How to Rebuild a Galaxy
by Sir NZ
Summary: Sequel to the Tournament. The Smashers crash land the escape ship and figure out they have been separated across the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Covenant is plotting to attack while the galaxy's peacekeepers are missing.
1. Step One

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, other than my OC's and especially Juris. (Who won't be showing up for a while)**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step One**

**Find out what's going on**

Mario woke up on a grassy plain, his head swirling. He kept his eyes closed for a while, just resting. He recalled what happened before he blacked out, it took a few minutes but he eventually remembered. They, the Super Smash Brothers, had held a tournament for newcomers to join, and they were on the foreign planet of Ivalice, a planet populated by many strange races. He remembered the hurried escape before the explosion caused by the clash of the two strongest swordsmen in the galaxy. One was the symbol of all that is good, the apparently-famous paladin Juris Longsword, wielder of the legendary knightsword Excalibur. The other was quite the opposite, a corrupted man, the symbol of evil in all of its vile nature, the wielder of the demon sword, Soul Edge. The man/monster's name was simply Nightmare.

Around him, he heard a few groans, signaling that other smashers were awakening. He opened his eyes and looked up to see the smoldering ruins of the spaceship, and a few other people strewn around. It appeared that only the cockpit and the hallway connecting to it had landed on this planet, and as such, only those who were standing in the cockpit were here. Samus was still strapped in to the pilot's seat, still in her power suit. Ganondorf was getting up from under a pipe that had landed on him. Ness was raiding the emergency supplies, looking for something that would ease his newly-attained migraine. Falco was checking his utility belt, making sure every piece of equipment was there and functioning properly. As far as Mario could see, that was everybody that was with them. He walked over to unbuckle Samus from the pilot's seat. As he unbuckled her, she stirred.

"Mario, what happened?" she asked faintly.

"We crashed, I'm not sure where though, but I'm sure we'll find out soon" answered Mario.

They both walked onto the plain, and Mario called the others to join him.

"Alright, we are on an unknown planet, our ship is in many pieces, and we have minimal supplies, does anybody have any idea about what to do?" asked Mario.

"I suggest we hunt for food" said Falco.

"Let's go find civilization" said Ganondorf.

"Let's go to a hospital" said Ness, his migraine still bothering him.

"I'll check my maps, see if I can find out where we are, just give me a minute" offered Samus.

_One Minute Later…_

"My maps don't tell me what planet we are on, but they do have a map of the geography, there appears to be a small town 10 miles north of here. Want to try it?" Asked Samus.

"Yes! As long as there is a hospital, I'm going!" exclaimed the migraine-irritated Ness.

- - - - - - - - -

Marth awoke with a start. Roy was yelling at him to come quickly. He opened his eyes and saw he was on a hill somewhere. There was little vegetation on the hill, and no grass. He got up and ran over to where Roy was now standing.

He gasped at what he saw. Various smashers were strewn across the landscape, all around the middle hull of a ship, presumably of the escape ship.

"We gotta help everybody! Roy, you take the ones on the left, I'll take the right" said Marth.

As Marth ran over to the right, he saw things were going worse than he thought, he saw Luigi laying on a rock, blood coming from his head, Zelda was clutching her arm on the ground, moaning, Toon Link was softly crying, and Captain Falcon was lifting a sheet of metal off the ground. From under it, came a flattened Kirby, who quickly became round again.

As Roy ran over to the right, he saw things were quite the opposite of the right side, Mewtwo was using recover on himself, Bowser was brushing off his shell, Mr. G&W came out from in between two rocks, Peach was checking to make sure her dress had no tears in it, and Donkey Kong was just sitting there.

Once everybody was assembled, Marth asked them, "I think we should head towards the nearest city, does anybody know where we are?"

"I think we should head East, this place looks familiar to me for some reason" said Zelda while pointing to her left.

"I think we should head West, because that is the way that our ship landed in" said Bowser.

"Play rock-paper-scissors over it" said Marth, looking bored.

"We are going to let a simple game of chance to maybe decide if we survive or not?!" exclaimed Roy.

"Well, yeah since no one has any better ideas" defended Marth.

Zelda and Bowser approached each other, until Captain Falcon stepped in front of Zelda.

"Let me do it Princess, I won't let you down" said Captain Falcon with a smile.

"That's what she-" started Toon Link but he was quickly hit with one of Peach's frying pans.

"How can you have a better chance of-" started Zelda, but Captain Falcon quickly put finger to her mouth, telling her to be quiet.

"Rock… Paper" started Bowser and Falcon, each making the hand motions.

"PAWNCH!" exclaimed Falcon as he Falcon Punched Bowser.

"Alright, East it is!" said Roy.

Marth just looked down and shook his head before walking away with the others, Bowser being carried telekinetically by Mewtwo.

- - - - - - - -

**Sir NZ: Well, the smashers have crash landed on an unknown planet, and where are the other smashers? Tune in next week and find out. R&R please.**


	2. Step Two

**Sir NZ: Alright, it's been forever and a day, and I don't have any excuses (other than trying to pick up some pointers from other people's writing). I'll try to make this chapter longer to compensate for it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Two**

**Head to (what's left of) Civilization**

Mario's group walked across the plain in silence. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. Mario looked around at the various faces in his little group. Samus's was covered by her visor, Ganondorf looked dead tired, Ness was looking like his migraine was getting worse and Falco looked like he was in deep thought.

"Samus, how much farther until we reach this town?" asked Mario.

"We're halfway there, so we have 5 miles left" came the icy reply.

Silence once again regained its hold over the smashers.

**- - - - - - - -**

_Meanwhile…_

"How long have we been walking?" asked Toon Link in the whiny voice tired kids always use.

"15 minutes, Link" said Zelda.

The group was not in the best of spirits, but then again, they just crash-landed on an unfamiliar planet with no supplies, they had good reason to be low on morale. They came down from the mountain that they had landed on, and began to wander into a desert. The wind began to pick up as they got deeper into the desert and blew up the sands. It continued to pick up to the point of where they could barely see 10 feet ahead of them, with the sand whipping their faces.

"Screw this wind; can anybody do anything to help us out here?" Bowser asked looking around the group.

They group looked around at each other until they had no one else to look to.

"Hey guys, where did Mewtwo go?" asked a nervous Roy.

"I say good riddance, that guy gives me the creeps" stated Peach matter-of-factly.

"Be careful what you say, he could still be listening" advised Marth.

"Please, he hasn't liked us at all; he doesn't give a care what we think of him"

"Whatever, Hey Zelda, have any wind spells to help us out?" Marth asked, quickly changing the subject. It was common knowledge that Zelda was the next most mentally powerful smasher after Mewtwo.

"If I had some more energy, I could possibly use a wind spell to create a temporary barrier around us"

"But…?" inquired Roy, expecting a catch.

"I'm pretty tired right now, and I would still have to walk, I don't know how long I can hold a wind spell like that" Finished Zelda with a sigh.

"Well, no matter how you guys feel about Mewtwo, he definitely would know what to do right now" stated Ganondorf.

"He's right; maybe if we call out to him, he'll come back. After all, Marth said he could still be listening" offered Toon Link.

"No, I don't want that atrocity traveling with us; he would just murder us all in his sleep!" Yelled Peach.

"You said 'in his sleep' Peach" said Roy.

"No, she's right; Mewtwo probably could, but let's focus on what's important here: How do we get out of the desert?" Marth said, his leadership skills shining.

Luigi, who rarely talks to anybody, asked "Where did Captain Falcon go?"

"That's a good question Luigi, guys, any ideas?" said Marth with a worried tone in his voice. Despite his odd sense of humor, the man was useful to have around.

"He's gone?! Woo-Hoo!" shouted Bowser as he made a jump-for-joy next to Zelda. Unfortunately for Zelda, the shockwaves knocked her off balance and she fell to her left… into a hole.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" she quickly screamed before she fell down. (That sound is her death scream from melee when she turns into a star)

Everyone else waited around for some kind of signal from Zelda that she was okay.

"Falcon? What are you doing down here?" Was the first sound that came from the hole.

Everyone gave each other a "WTF?" kind of look before looking down the hole.

"Ah hello, my dear Princess. I am digging a tunnel out of the desert so we don't have to face the winds the whole way there"

"I'm sorry to say Falcon, but this desert could be miles long"

"No worries, I am an expert digger, I have already dug around a mile or two, I was just coming back to tell you guys about the tunnel when you fell in. Hey you guys outside, just jump in"

"Should we trust the 'expert digger', as he calls himself?" asked Toon Link while looking around at everybody else.

"Well he is an 'expert' isn't he? I say let's go!" shouted Bowser as he jumped in shell first. However, the top of the hole was just too small to get him in and he ended up looking like a flipped-over beetle, with his soft underbelly exposed.

"Don't worry Bowser, I will get you in" said Donkey Kong with mock heroism in his voice. Everyone had an idea of what he was going to do, especially Bowser.

"Oh for the love of all that is evil no! Please don't do it!" Shouted Bowser as he began to struggle to free himself.

"I'm coming!" shouted Donkey Kong as he jumped up. Peach hid her eyes, Marth covered Toon Link's eyes, and Game & Watch started beeping like crazy.

"Huwa!" muttered DK as his hands came down simultaneously onto the soft underbelly of the turtle. In the blink of an eye, Bowser and DK fell down into the hole. Falcon had no idea what was going on and was not as lucky as Zelda (Who did not get harmed).

"Falcon!"

"Don't worry, Princess, I'm completely fine!" said Falcon from under Bowser, who flew into him at a dangerously high speed shell-first. Zelda immediately used magic to lift Bowser off of Falcon, and horrified at what she saw.

"Falcon, your chest is bleeding everywhere!" shouted Zelda as she leaned over to try and heal him. It wasn't the collision with a giant turtle's shell that hurt Falcon; it was the collision with the giant turtle's spikes that cut into him that hurt him. She immediately began to heal his wounds when Kirby walked over.

"What is it Kirby?" asked Zelda to the puffball.

"Pyo!" greeted Kirby. He then looked like he was trying to focus and spit out a loaf of bread.

Kirby then motioned for her to take it.

"For me, Kirby?" She said as she looked at the bread that had, surprisingly, no saliva on it.

"Pyo" said Kirby as he nodded his head up and down.

"That's so sweet Kirby, thank you" said Zelda as she smiled.

"I'm watching you, punk" said Falcon, under his breath, from behind Zelda, while making an I'm-watching-you motion. Kirby didn't seem to get it. Zelda immediately set of to work again, fixing up Falcon in a little under a minute. By that time, everyone was down in the hole.

"So Falcon, how long does this tunnel go for?" asked Peach.

"Pretty far, probably far enough to get out of the desert" replied Falcon.

"What are we waiting for? Let's start walking" said Roy as he began to walk forward. The rest of the smashers followed, dead silent.

- - - - - - -

Little did the smashers know that from a distance, figure clad in green was watching them. This particular figure was quite famous and knew the geography very well; this was his home planet. _Why didn't they just stay on the edge of the Gerudo Desert, where the winds aren't as strong?_(Italics are Link's thoughts) He kept asking himself this question as he watched his beloved Princess Zelda and the others go through the heart of the desert.

"Why don't you go and ask them?"

"I won't be able to get there in time, and then it'll just be a goose chase through the desert at night" said Link (the green figure, if you hadn't guessed). It took Link a moment to realize that nobody was even close to him. _Ghosts? Here? I hope not?_

"I am no ghost Link, you know me well"

"How did you do that?! Are you some kind of mind-reader or something?" shouted out Link to nobody in particular.

"For the Hero of Time, you really aren't good with remembering people, are you?" said Mewtwo as he floated out from the forest.

"Oh Din, It's just you Mewtwo, I was ready to tear you to shreds"

"You were looking pretty pale to me"

"Are you implying that I was scared?"

"Yes Link, I was implying that the holder of the Triforce of Courage was shaking in his boots"

Mewtwo didn't have many friends, but Link was one of them. It was only with Link Mewtwo seemed to have a sense of humor and talk casually; like what the other smashers talked like the whole time. Their whole friendship was built on the respect they had for each other, but Mewtwo always liked to annoy Link with jokes and cracks about Mewtwo's superiority.

"Be quiet; but yes, as I was saying, the sun is going down soon, and the desert gets dangerous at night" said Link as he looked up at sun as measure how much time they had left. "I give them an hour"

"Well, you can't chase them now"

"Why not?" He then glanced over at where they were the last time he saw them and they weren't there. "Did you see where they went?"

"Our good buddy (sarcasm) the captain dug a hole so your precious princess wouldn't have to be pressured to use wind spells to get them through the desert"

"Is that guy trying to steal Zelda away from me or something? Once I get my hands on him, he will wish he has never met Zelda!" shouted Link to the entire forest.

"I'm no expert in love, but Zelda seems like she would favor the one who wouldn't be jealous of the other and not try to beat him up" offered Mewtwo.

"You're right; I'll provoke HIM into fighting ME! I'll be the victim!" shouted Link, apparently happy at his flash of brilliance.

"She'll figure it out, and then she will be disgusted at you for trying something so underhanded and dirty like that" said Mewtwo in a grim tone. He always had a knack for ruining Link's happy moments while around him.

"Why are you always right?" said a sad Link as he gazed at the uncompromising orbs of violet that were Mewtwo's eyes.

"Because I think my plans through before accepting them; and even then, I try to think if there is a better alternative" _There he goes again, trying to raise himself one bar higher than me._

"Alright Mister Genius, what do you suggest I do?" said a sarcastic Link while staring straight into Mewtwo's face, even though he was 3 inches taller than Link. **I must really be pissing him off, he's using sarcasm. (Mewtwo's thoughts are bold).**

"As I said, I'm no love guru; but I'm sure you can think of something she'll like, after all, you have known her much longer than I have" said Mewtwo as he turned around to float into the trees behind him.

"Wait!" yelled Link at Mewtwo, but it was too late, he was gone. _Something she'll like, hm… eureka!_ Link then ran towards the west; happy again.

- - - - - - - -

"Mamma Mia, what happened here?" said Mario to his companions as they stared at the once-proud ruins of Princess Peach's Castle.

- - - - - - - -

**A/N: Hurray! I'm done with chapter two! It feels so good to finish a chapter again. As always, comments, criticisms and praises are well received and paid attention to.**

**The "Immortal" Sir NZ**


	3. Step Three

**Lock your doors and go into the bomb shelters! Sir NZ updated within a three month period (But is still extremely late)! It's a sign of the apocalypse!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has appeared (yet).**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Three**

**Protect Your Group Members!**

Mario just stood there, on the hill, soaking in what his eyes told him, yet he did not want to believe. Peach's castle was in ruins, some of the first floor was still intact, but everything else was in ruins, and looked like it was burned down.

"Arson, and a pretty large-scale operation by the looks of it" said Samus, analyzing the ruins.

"What amateurs, they burned it from the top down, every REAL villain knows you set the bottom on fire first" said Ganondorf while looking at the sky, not looking very impressed at the handiwork of – well… whoever it was.

"Guys, look at this!" shouted Ness from another nearby hill, with the face of one who has seen a ghost. The smashers ran up to the hill and found a scene that shocked them even more than the burned-down castle did. The most notable thing about the scene, however, was the abundance of Toad bodies and blood littering the ground.

- - - - - - -

After Marth's group got out of the Falcon-Tunnel (as Roy began calling it) they were again led by Zelda's gut sense, but had no idea which direction they were going in this time.

As Roy was walking alongside Marth, he noticed what he was walking behind. Zelda. He quickly took in what he saw as he moved his eyes up from her small, delicate feet, up to her lovely…

"Roy are you even paying attention to what I'm telling you?!"

"Wha?" said Roy as he swiveled his head around to face Bowser. He had apparently started talking to Roy when he wasn't paying attention.

"Exactly, now listen carefully this time. The art of breathing fire is thought to be a lost art by some, but can be achieved by…" the rest was blocked out by Roy as he continued surveying Zelda's curves.

- - - - - - -

Marth, on the other hand, was surveying the surrounding area for possible escape routes into the forest, just in case. It was his nature as a military commander to always treat his comrades as troops and look at everything from a tactical standpoint.

He had finally exhausted all subjects when the plain they were walking on had turned flat. He finally paid attention to the subject in front of him. Zelda. _I shouldn't, no, I CAN'T, she is Link's, and Link's alone._ _I guess just a peek wouldn't hurt._ He began at her legs._ Her legs are very thin, all the better for her lightning kicks._ He went up her body in this fashion, finding an advantage to everything.

- - - - - - -

They camped out by the edge of a forest, and began to go about the normal things people camping out would do. Captain Falcon was assigned to Hunting along with Bowser (In case they found something big). Peach was assigned to Shelter set-up along with Kirby. Donkey Kong was assigned to finding fruits and vegetables along with Luigi. It was just Marth, Roy, Zelda, and Toon Link left. They were drawing straws as to who would go out scouting, and who would go firewood gathering. Marth and Roy (and to some extent, Toon Link) were all hoping to get the stick to go with the princess.

Their hopes were dashed when Toon Link got to go with Zelda. Their only consolation was when they went to go scout, they would eventually split up, so at least Toon Link wouldn't be alone with her. (Marth and Roy are very competitive). They both watched them with longing eyes when they set off to map the next day's course.

Later…

Marth and Roy were out gathering firewood, and were talking about the perfect way to temper steel for a blade, when they suddenly fell silent. Roy muttered something under his breath.

"What was that Roy?"

"Nothing"

"You like Zelda, don't you?" asked Marth, in that I-already-know-the-tone.

Roy made a few funny sounding gasps before he sputtered out "You should be ashamed of yourself, accusing a gentleman like me, of checking out a woman without her permission!"

"Oh, so you were checking her out" said Marth in that sly tone.

Roy was left speechless. "Well, just because I just checked her out for the first time today and realized what beauty lies behind that shy veil… oh wait, I did it again, didn't I?" asked Roy as he face palmed himself.

"Yes, Roy, you did. You just admitted that you like to look at her ass" said Marth with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Ah-Ha! Gotcha! I never said that" Roy paused as he climbed onto a rock "let it be known that Marth likes Zelda too!"

Now it was Marth's turn to be speechless. _He turned the tables on me, that amazingly smart little son of a swordsman. How did he do that? _

"So now that formalities are out of the way, what is her best feature, in your opinion?" Roy asked with earnest.

Marth raised an eyebrow. "I will not stoop down to the level of common teenagers, talking about women like they are jewelry that need to be apprised" Marth could be extremely arrogant sometimes, especially when talking about the opposite sex.

"But Marth…" he paused for dramatic effect "this is not just any woman we're talking about here" another pause "this is Princess Zelda" he almost whispered, while he put his right arm around his shoulder and made a hand gesture in the shape of a rainbow in front of them with the left.

"Well, she is very regal, and graceful, and not to mention has a delicate kind of beauty about her, that does not require God-blessed curves either on her midsection or upper torso to achieve. It is a shy sort of beauty, like a flower" while he could be extremely arrogant, once you broke through Marth's rough exterior he was the person who could express beauty the best.

"I don't think it's very fair to let Link have her all to himself" added Roy, as he could sense what was coming next.

"I agree, Roy. Zelda needs royal care, someone who could understand her needs, inside and out. We are both gentlemen-warriors"

"That Captain Falcon will also treat her with a hand of that a vagabond. He will try to let out her wild side. She deserves better than that" Said Roy, looking at the sky, taking up a very Marth-like air of arrogance.

"We will get those two out of the way first," "and may the best man win?" "As always" Roy and Marth shook hands, both satisfied with their newfound alliance to get the girl of their dreams.

- - - - - - - -

Zelda was walking out on her own, scouting. She and Toon Link had decided to split up to look at more of the surrounding area to plan out a better route. Or at least, that's how she put it, but being Toon Link, he couldn't help himself from a "that's what she said" before they parted ways. Sometimes she wondered how Link grew up to be the man that he is when he started out like that. She also wondered how they became friends like when he was like that. Oh well, the Link she knew would never be so immature like that. And that was what she liked about him.

It was getting dark, so she thought she should be getting back to camp. Strangely, she felt like she knew the way perfectly. _Why does this place seem so familiar?_

Meanwhile…

Link was half-walking, half-jogging out in the forest near the camp, and was thinking about how he should make his entrance. A scream piercing the forest caused him to snap out of his jumbled thoughts. He would know that scream anywhere, it was Zelda's. He began running in the direction he thought he heard the scream in. _This is my chance to slay the attacking monster, sweep her off her feet, and win her love!_ But yet again, he was brought out of his thoughts.

"For the Hero of Time, you really aren't good with directions are you?" said Mewtwo on the side of the trail.

"What do you mean?" asked a startled Link.

"You really should pay more attention to how you're going to get there before thinking about what you'll do once you get there" said Mewtwo in a bored voice.

"I don't get it"

Mewtwo mentally face palmed himself (is that even possible?) and said "Zelda is in that direction, O courageous one" while pointing in a different direction than the way Link was currently going.

"Okay, thanks Mewtwo!" he enthusiastically said with a wave as ran off in the direction Mewtwo was pointing to.

**No remark on the sarcasm? He is so desperately in love with her. And that's why he'll lose out to somebody else. If he keeps this sort of boneheaded streak going, he might as well hand her over to the two swordsmen and Captain Falcon. **(Yes only Mewtwo gets the privilege of having his thoughts in bold)

- - - - - - -

As Mario, Ganondorf, Samus and Ness walked through the grim scene, each looked at the odd facial expressions of the dead toads. Most looked like they were not entirely sure what was going on when they died. The bodies were all inside the houses, which many found odd since it looked like some of the fire from the castle got to some of the houses, but none were burned down.

"Hmm, none of the houses are burnt down, it looks as if the villain put out the fire deliberately…" said Samus.

"This makes no sense, the toads look perfectly calm at the moment they died" added Ness, his migraine now gone.

"You know, now that I look at it, all of the toads were decapitated in exactly the same place on their neck. This person knows what they're doing" elaborated Ganondorf, bending down to examine the killer's handiwork.

"The ashes on this house are still warm, the fires were recent" said Mario.

"The toads are not rotting yet either, this was done within the past few hours or last night" said Samus.

"Ah yes, so the assassin could still be around…" Mario paused as he came to startling realization. He began to do a head count, and asked "Do any of you know where Falco is?"

Everyone else looked at each other with horrified looks and began thinking when they last saw the bird.

"The last I saw of him was right before we saw the castle" offered Ness.

"Alright; let's go back the way we came. Quickly now!" said Mario, who led the way.

As they neared the forest near the route they came from, they heard and saw evidence of a conflict. Broken branches on the ground near the forest, battle shouts, and laser blasts were among some of the things that tipped them off. They headed into the forest, ready to deal with the assassin.

- - - - - - - -

Link came out of the trees and saw Zelda being attacked by the many stalchildren that roamed Hyrule Field at night. **(**The skeleton things from OoT). And then he looked at what had REALLY caused her to scream, a giant stalchild (like Captain Keeta from Majora's Mask). _Ha! Perfect chance, now just gotta get out a fire arrow and shoot it to divert it from Zelda. _(However, the author feels that since Link gets Zelda in just about every other fanfic, somebody else should have a chance at her.) Just as Link was aiming his Bow and lighting it on fire, a wind blew past him and caused him to miss his target and hit only a normal stalchild. _Curses! Why did that wind have to blow past him at that exact moment?_ Link then noticed that it wasn't any normal wind, it was the wind generated by none other than Captain Falcon running at top speed towards the monster.

He watched as the scene seemed to slow down, and as Captain Falcon leapt up and shouted

"Stomp of Revelation!" as he brought his two legs down with amazing force on the creatures' giant head. The old skeleton couldn't withstand the sudden pressure and collapsed.

Captain Falcon then landed with his hands behind him, and his legs bent and gave a thumbs up and a smile that seemed to glimmer towards Zelda, both of which made Zelda blush and Link steam up with rage. _Think you're so damn cool do ya! Well I'm taking down the rest of them!_ Link then took out his bow and began to rapid fire arrows at the stalchildren with pinpoint accuracy. Captain Falcon began to leap towards each one, but Link beat him to each one as each fell from Link's deadly arrow strikes. Both looked towards Link simultaneously, Zelda amazed, and Falcon looked a bit ticked off. Link gave them a look of accomplishment, but he didn't look happy, he looked more or less noble as he put his bow away. Captain Falcon and Link both had the same idea when they walked up to each other.

"Nice jump there Falcon! That stomp on the stalchild's head was amazing!" said Link with a look of enthusiasm.

"Thanks, but hey, that was some mighty fine sharpshootin' you did there boy! I didn't get any more you were going so fast!" said Falcon with a smile.

"Well thank you both! If it wasn't for both of you, I might have been injured or worse. Thank you for responding with such haste" said Zelda as she gave them a sweet smile.

"You're welcome, princess!" "Any time Zelda!"

"Well I'm done with scouting for the day, I'm going back to camp, would either of you like to accompany me?" asked Zelda.

It was at about this time that Bowser decided to poke his head of the trees and yell to Falcon:

"Falcon, I got a big one! Help me carry it!"

"Coming Bowser! Well, looks like I have other obligations, so maybe some other time" _Stupid turtle, couldn't have picked a worse time to ask me to carry something he could probably carry himself._ As he was walking away, him and Link both shot each other I've-got-my-eye-on-you looks.

Zelda waved as he walked away and then turned to Link and said "Well Link I wasn't expecting you to show up, but since you have no job to do, would you like to come with me?"

"Of course Princess, it's just like our afternoon strolls through Hyrule Field, except it's at twilight"

"And we aren't in Hyrule Field, also" said Zelda in a correcting tone.

"No, Zelda, we are, didn't you see those stalchildren and walk through Gerudo Desert?"

"Really… oh so that's why this place was so familiar! It all makes sense now!" she paused and then asked "So how did you get here?" very excited to hear how.

"I'll tell you and everybody else at the same time, OK?"

"Alright, as long as it isn't boring or anything" they both laughed at this and walked towards camp, side by side.

- - - - - - - - -

Falco was getting tired of this. All his attacker did was hide, and when he got close, pop out and punch him and run around in the tree branches really fast. Falco was also scratched from the branches cutting him all over his body. Right now, however, he heard someone else coming from the direction both his attacker were running in. With any luck, they would trap him and question him.

"Gotcha!" shouted Samus as she extended her grapple beam towards the… whatever it was. The creature was very quick, however, and easily dodged it. It turned around and shot back Falco's way, and he was so surprised when it did so, he didn't react in time and grabbed air when he threw his wings out.

"This isn't over you little bird" his assailant whispered to him in a raspy voice as he sped past him and through the trees.

- - - - - - -

**A/N: Well, this chapter was interesting to write, I thought I went way to overboard on the whole "Zelda is so hot" thing, but whatever, it will make for interesting arguments and side plots later. Review, PM me or both. **

**P.S. Sorry again for the long update delays and not-so-long chapters, I've got track to run, AP classes to study for, and Age of Empires II to play.**


	4. Step Four

**I'm late, I know. The best part is, I have no excuse. Other than just general laziness.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Actually, now that I think about it, I do. You just don't know what yet.**

**(on another note, did somebody get sued for not having a disclaimer? Is that why we all make them?)**

**Step Four**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Find a Castle to Hole Up In**

Mario's group slowly made their way to Princess Peach's castle, all the while listening to Falco's account with the mysterious assailant.

"I'm telling you, this guy just pops out of nowhere just as I'm finishing going number 2, and attacks me! Next thing I know, I'm trying to fight him in a forest!" said Falco exasperatedly.

"Well, we found that the village of toads by the princess' castle was attacked. All life forms were annihilated" reported Samus in cool tone.

"Well, It's getting dark outside, where should we make camp?" said Mario hurriedly, eager to bring a happier tone to the conversation.

Nobody really had any ideas, and they were silent for a good ten minutes, until they went back to the hill near the castle ruins. Ness was then struck by inspiration.

"Guys, why don't we stay in Peach's castle? There are some parts of the first floor that have a ceiling on them so we could sleep under it"

The group members mumbled various sounds of approval, or a nod in the case of Ganondorf. As they walked over the little plank of wood that used to be the drawbridge and into the empty doorway, Mario was overcome with sadness as he saw the castle he had visited so often in its current state of disarray. They grabbed blankets from a closet that was miraculously untouched by the fire and laid down in the reading room, one of the few rooms that resembled its former self.

"Good Night everybody" said Mario.

There were a no replies, as everyone was exhausted and fell asleep instantly except for Samus, who had to take off her Power Suit and roll it into a ball. As she laid down, she could have sworn she heard a soft "Good Night Peach" come from Mario's direction.

- - - - - - - - -

By the time Zelda and Link got back to camp, everyone was there except for Captain Falcon and Bowser. As the two looked around camp, they saw the fruits of everyone's labor. The shelters were up and looked very tidy. Marth and Roy were trying to start a fire from the fire wood they got, while Peach was impatiently waiting for them with DK's and Luigi's vegetables in her frying pan to cook them.

"Hurry up you two, we're hungry!" yelled Peach. Both Marth and Roy could tell that she wasn't going to wait any longer.

"Ok, wait just calm down, lemme see if I can just set this on fire with some more flint" said Marth nervously, eyeing that stainless steel frying pan she had in her hand.

"Roy go get me some more flint would you?" said Marth without really looking at Roy and his current position.

Peach recognized his stance however, and yelled to Marth while running away "Marth, get out of there!"

Marth quickly turned his head to Roy, who was beginning to sweat profusely "Oh swordreavers!" exclaimed Marth as he ran away from the fire as fast as possible, and not a moment too soon. Roy released his pent-up energy in one downwards slash at the wood. The other smashers watched the giant explosion in the middle of their camp in awe. Once the smoke cleared, they saw that Roy's attack more or less erased their firewood from existence.

"Roy! What did you do!?" asked Peach as her stomach growled loudly.

"Uh, what if I told you that I charged up too much energy, and utterly destroyed our firewood?" said Roy with a fake smile on his face.

"You Idiot!" yelled Link as he Roy on the head with the Megaton Hammer. **(A/N: Hmm I wonder, how did he get it back from Darunia?)** "Now we're going to starve!"

"Link?! Was that really necessary?" Said Zelda as she knelt down to check on Roy's head.

"We have no fire, and therefore no food but vegetables!"

Link was quickly silenced when flaming firewood came raining down from the sky, narrowly missing one of the shelters. Zelda quickly used a little wind to push it into the fire ring.

"See, you just overreacted, now we have a fire. Besides, what's wrong with vegetables?" asked Zelda, offended because some of her favorite foods were vegetables.

"Absolutely nothing, we just need a balanced meal that's all" said Link with a fake smile as he took one of the seats around the fire ring.

"Nice catch there that was some quick thinking" complemented Marth, who had just sat next to him. Link liked the prince, he was a bit cold and linear, like a machine, but he was likeable.

"Thanks, I thought I was toast there for sure, Zelda would make a good prosecutor, she can make anybody tell the truth" said Link while swiping some sweat from his brow.

Falcon and Bowser showed up some time later with two pigs that the Captain was holding, and Bowser was carrying a giant heifer by himself. After a cry of exclamation at the amount of meat that was brought, and how they killed an innocent cow for no reason, Bowser just ate the whole cow by himself, so that it wasn't wasted. Peach began cooking everything on her frying pan, everything stacked up on top of each other.

Roy woke up soon after dinner was served and took a seat next to Marth, showing no signs of anger towards Link. Link wasn't quite sure Roy knew what happened to him, but Link sure wasn't going to tell him. After everyone finished their meal, there was one question on everybody's tongues.

"So Link, how did you get here?" asked Peach in a sweet voice.

Link stood up and brushed the excess food that fell on his tunic and began to tell his story.

"Like you, I was on the escape ship, and after the explosion or whatever it was, the ship crash landed and we all blacked out. Unlike you, I was not near the crash site when I woke up. I was conscious in the ship long enough to see that the ship had split up into at least 3 parts, each going separate ways. However, I was near a window, and as our section came through the atmosphere, the glass window broke, and I was sucked out of the window due to the pressure difference. When I awoke, I found myself lying in a tree. I quickly got myself down recognized I was somewhere in Hyrule, my home planet. As I was walking up the many hills, I noticed there was a group of people traveling too. I thought to myself 'That's odd, what would a group of people be doing out here?' Then I noticed that Bowser was in the group, and realized that it was you guys. I followed you up to Gerudo Desert. However, I noticed that you went into a tunnel that could have gone in any direction. So guided by…"

Link paused as he was about to say "Mewtwo" but he thought better of it when he saw glowing purple eyes just outside camp.

"Something the matter Link?" asked Zelda.

"It's nothing, really, anyways as I was saying, So guided by my gut instinct, I followed you guys and as I was strolling through the forest, I heard a scream pierce the air. I quickly followed the sound and arrived just in time to see Zelda under attack by Stalchildren…"

"So then I arrive on the scene with skippy over here, and we team up to kick some serious skeleton tailbone! We managed to save the princess in record time, and managed to be back before dinner" continued Falcon, looking pleased with himself.

"Thank you for continuing MY story Falcon" said Link, a bit pissed off at Falcon's interruption.

"You're Welcome, skippy" said Falcon. Link's eye started to twitch at the name "Skippy" but dealt with it because Zelda was here.

"Okay, so I suggest we begin making plans for tomorrow, so Zelda and Toon Link, would you come over here, and everyone else can just go away and do whatever" said Marth.

"Hey, why can't we come too?!" Peach objected with her hands on her hips.

"Did you go scouting today? And if I'm not mistaken, no you didn't"

"YOU didn't go scouting today either"

"But I'm the leader of this group, so what I say goes" said Marth, with authority.

"Well guess what buddy, you're not the only one who is a leader, I'm a leader too. Let me join you" said Peach, standing on her toes, trying to be taller.

Marth relented "Okay fine, you can come"

Kirby then stood up "Pyo, Pyo, Eep?"

Everyone, Marth included, gave Kirby a weird look, as no one could understand what Kirby was saying. "Sure?" said Marth, uncertain to what he agreed to. He understood once Kirby jumped up and ran into the tent they were about to go into.

"So everybody else, you just go and relax, or whatever it is you normal people do" said Marth as they watched him turn around, cape and all, and walk into a tent with Peach, Zelda and Toon Link not far behind.

- - - - - - -

_Far away… in a deep black hole/dimensional warp…_

The arena was quiet, nobody was moving, or making a sound. There was an odd green light that lit up the arena. The truth was, this world was dying. Time had stopped for the inhabitants and their daily lives, but the clock was ticking on how long this world could hold itself together. Just like its sister world, this one is doomed to fade away to the everlasting darkness that makes up space. The crowd was frozen in the positions they were in thousands of years ago, their eyes full of panic. At the center of it all, two men stood, their swords crossed in an eternal embrace. An embrace of souls. Evil and Good. Good and Evil. They would always clash, and never cease to fight. One may gain the upper hand, but then the other would fight back to re-establish the never ending stalemate.

1000 years left.

The world had never known such peace and quiet, but nothing material lasts forever. A ripple shot across the world, and robbed the crowd of one of its members, forever gone from this world.

- - - - - - -

Roy sighed as he sat alone by the fire pit later that night. He looked into the dancing flames, and he envisioned his home world. He remembered all the happy times he had spent there, with all of his friends and partners. He remembered all the triumphs that they had, and all their defeats. He perked up as he heard a footstep behind him. He put his hand on the Sword of Seals' hilt and quickly turned around, expecting a monster. He quickly exhaled and sat back down once he saw who it was.

"I'm sorry; did I startle you?" asked Peach in a quiet voice.

"Yes…No…Sort of…Oh I don't know" responded Roy as he threw his hands up and back down again.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked as she pointed to the seat next to Roy.

"No" responded Roy, keeping his eyes on the fire, wondering why she was up so late.

"So why are you up so late, and more importantly, all alone?" asked Peach as she smoothed out the bottom of her dress to sit down.

"I could ask you the same thing. But since you asked first, I couldn't sleep very well, and fire just seems to calm me down" started Roy. He glanced at her face got the message that she was confused. "I don't know why, most people just see it as uncontrollable and dangerous, but I see it as… well… I'm not quite sure what" said Roy as he scratched his back with his left hand and looked at her. He looked at her eyes, looking for any hint of understanding.

"I understand; some people are just like that, they have things that have weird effects on them" said Peach calmly.

"Do you really? Whenever I try to explain it to Marth he just looks at me funny and gives me this weird look" said Roy with a smile of reassurance.

"What kind of weird look?" asked Peach quizzically.

"Kind of like this" said Roy as he turned his head so that she could only see his right eye. He then took his hands and pulled on the skin above and below his eye, to make it look like he was opening his eye super wide. Peach giggled while she brought her hand up to her mouth. Roy looked at her face once more, noticing everything on her face: how the light moved played off her eyes, her delicate features, and her luscious blonde hair.

"So now it's your turn to tell me: what are you doing out here?" said Roy.

"I couldn't sleep very well, like you. I just thought I could pass the time by looking at the moon while keeping myself warm by the fire"

"Have you accomplished your goal?" asked Roy playfully.

"Oh, I think I have, the fire has kept me warm, and you have kept me busy. Thanks for talking with me. Good night prince" answered Peach in a sweet, soft voice as she rose and went back to her tent.

Roy hadn't spent much time around the princess before, but had gotten the impression she was just another slutty pretty girl. He had never expected her to be this nice. He glanced back at the direction she went, and then back at the moon. _Hmm… around midnight I suppose. Time to go to bed._

He arose, stretched his arms, and walked sleepily over to his tent. He undressed himself from his blue armor and laid down to sleep. He continued to dwell on his small chat with Peach. He recalled her face by the fire pit and continued to think about it. He had but one thought as he fell asleep: _Zelda didn't seem so pretty anymore._

Outside, the fire suddenly went out, as if by some kind of magic. A chilled wind blew through the small camp, much colder than it should have been. It carried shards of ice that hit the tents when it blew by. The dew on the grass started to freeze as the temperature rapidly dropped and the smashers all grabbed to bring their blankets up closer to them in their sleep. Light blue lines began to form to the left of the fire, where Roy had released his powerful attack. A figure came into existence, and immediately fell down into the dirt, his Golden Staff in hand.

- - - - - - -

**A/N: Another chapter done. I was pretty disappointed at myself, I only finished one chapter over the entire course of Spring Break. Oh well, I think this chapter is one of my better chapters. Review please! I might try to write more often if I get a few more of those little "I took two minutes to gather my thoughts and tell him what I thought" messages.**

**The "Immortal" Sir NZ**


	5. Step Five

**Ephraim: Guess who it is? Me again! Since the author is in a good mood today, he decided to release me from my chair! So, uh… yeah… I'm back. Woo. (If you don't know why he was in a chair, don't worry about it)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anybody except for the mystery character.**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Five**

**Recruit New Group Members**

The next morning, the sunrise shined bright on the Mushroom Kingdom. The members of Mario's group were awoken by the sun in their face. Each group member arose and did their normal thing after waking up. Stretching their arms, yawning very loudly etc. All except for Ganondorf. The others were told that they would work today to begin rebuilding their new home.

"Now, be in the grand Foyer at 7:00AM sharp, or else you will suffer a reduction in food rations. Dismissed" said Mario while making a proper military salute.

Samus, Ness and Falco looked at Ganondorf's sleeping figure sprawled out on the floor. They all looked at each other and sighed.

"Don't worry guys, I got this" said Falco as he walked over to Ganondorf. They watched as he took out his reflector, and kicked it into Ganondorf's face while he turned it on, giving him an electric shock.

"Huh, what? I didn't do nothing homie!" said Ganon, still half-asleep.

"G-dorf, you betta get up right now, or else M-dawg is gonna kick yo ass all the way back to Hyrule, you hear?!" said Falco trying to sound like a gangster.

"Okay, just don't get up in my grille, yo!" said Ganondorf while he slowly got up and staggered over to where Ness and Samus were standing.

"So what's going on today guys?" said Ganondorf while yawning.

"Mario wants us to start rebuilding the castle, and he wants us to meet at the foyer in 45 minutes to receive our assignments" stated Samus. "So do what you need to do, and I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna go bathe" while walking out towards the forest.

"Samus where are you going, the river is over there!" yelled Falco, pointing to the river behind the castle as she walked away.

"Yeah, Falco is right, we're all guys right? It doesn't matter whether we see you or not!" yelled Ganondorf even louder.

"You retards! Samus is a girl! You got her mad! Oh geez, why am I always near her when she gets angry?" asked Ness to no one in particular as he ran as far away as his short legs would carry him.

"Oh really, even so, if she is a girl, what can she do to us? We are big, burly, men versus one little girl…" Ganondorf was cut short by a giant charge shot just barely missing him as he laid flat on the ground.

"Hold the phone, she's got a cannon!" said Falco in his best sport commentator impression. (Dodge Ball LOL)

"If you two ever call me a man again, I will tear your big, burly balls off!" she then proceeded to fire two more homing missiles, to keep them off her tail.

Luckily, they blew up right before they reached them.

"She's kind of scary when she's angry" said Falco in a calm voice.

"Yeah, should we avoid her?" said Ganon in the same voice.

"Probably, if we value our big, burly balls" both just laughed off her threat.

- - - - - -

That same morning, Marth's group quickly rose and began to tear down their shelters, too tired to notice anything out of the ordinary. The silence was short lived, however, when a certain green plumber noticed the unconscious figure lying face down in the middle of their camp.

"Um, hello? Sir, are you okay?" Luigi started in his quivering voice, wondering how this man got here and why he was sleeping so close to the fire pit.

"Zelda, would you please come over here? We have a sleeping man who doesn't want to wake up" said Luigi while beckoning Zelda over. She put on a face of annoyance, as she slowly walked over to Luigi.

"Now Luigi, what would a sleeping man be doing… Oh dear! You were right, I'm sorry" Zelda said. She began to start shaking the man, but to no avail. She flipped him over, and to her surprise, he was only a few years younger than her, probably 15 or 16.

"What would a boy his age be doing out here Luigi? He should be safe in sound in school or with his family" asked Zelda, not really expecting an answer. Luigi just shrugged his shoulders. By this time, the others had started to take notice, and were curiously watching the strange boy on the ground. Kirby walked out to Zelda and stared at the boy.

"What do you want little guy?" asked Zelda to the bundle of joy. Kirby ignored her question and began to focus.

"What is he doing?" asked Bowser.

"Me thinks he go poo-poo on guy to wake him up" said DK in his warped version of English.

"Naw, he's just doing one of his little gremlin tricks. This is the one where he conjures up a loaf of bread from the black hole that is his stomach" commented Falcon, remembering the time in the tunnel.

Kirby suddenly opened up his mouth wide, and started inhaling air at a startling rate. The boy was sucked into Kirby's wide open mouth, and then Kirby closed it, looking smug. He then leaned back and forth as if he was waiting for something.

"Hey, whoa, how'd I get in here?! Seriously, though where am I? Somebody? Anybody? Please let me out, it's slimy and sort of acidic in here. Hey I can hear my echo in here, I wonder how far this thing goes…" said the figure from inside Kirby's stomach/mouth/body. Kirby immediately spit him out onto the ground, where he landed face first.

"That kinda hurt, could you spit me out less forcefully next time? Geez, my neck…" said the boy lying on the ground, putting a hand on his neck. The smashers eyed his appearance, he had a blue robe on, with what looked like a dark green undershirt, some normal beige cargo pants, and he had a pointy, tan hat on.

"Good Morning boy, would you mind telling us what name is and where you came from so we can send you away as soon as possible?" quickly said Marth.

"Marth?! How could you saw such a thing? Look at him, he's obviously hurt, it pays to be nice to people less fortunate than you" criticized Zelda while facing Marth. She walked over to the boy and continued "Hello, my name is Princess Zelda, princess of Hyrule. Don't mind my friend over there, Prince Marth of Altea; he's just on edge from lack of sleep. Would you mind joining us on our journey?" finished Zelda as she extended a hand.

"I don't know about this one, Zelda, he looks pretty suspicious, I might agree with just sending him away like Marth says. I mean seriously, look at that hat, NOBODY wears a hat that pointy" said Link, who finished while pointing at his hat. Of course, overlooking the fact that his hat has a pointy end on it too.

"Princess, could I talk to you in private for a minute?" asked Marth while walking over to a spot about ten feet away from the group. "Sure"

"Princess, you are way too trusting of strangers, what are you doing inviting him to come with us?" whispered Marth to Zelda.

"He looks harmless, besides, I'm sure if it came down to it, all of us could take down one of him" whispered Zelda, convinced he didn't pose a threat.

"We don't even know his name, Zelda, we are not keeping him"

"You're referring to him like he's a dog or something, Marth, show some sympathy for once"

"Pyo, Pyo" said Kirby, who was hanging on both Zelda and Marth's shoulders. They both gave him questioning looks and then continued discussing it.

"Fine, he can come with us, but I'm keeping an eye on him, if he makes one false move I'm going to…" he was interrupted by Zelda putting a finger on his mouth.

"Between you and Link watching him 24/7, I'm sure we'll be fine, now let's go tell the others about the decision" finished Zelda, who quickly turned around to go tell the others. Marth followed, but was annoyed by her act of interrupting him; nobody dared interrupt him at his court in Altea.

"We have come to the decision that you can come and travel with us, mister… oh dear, we don't even know your name yet, what is it?" asked Zelda with a still-annoyed Marth looking over her shoulder.

"My name" said the boy as he took off his hat and bowed "Is James, James Wong of Earth"

- - - - - - - -

"Welcome aboard the Spirit of Fire sir!" said a cheerful marine as Snake boarded the Spirit of Fire at the UNSC air base located in Berlin, Germany. Snake blew some smoke out from his cigar as a response and continued walking to the command room. _Stupid private, he says it like it's a good thing. _After a few minutes of walking down the dull grey hallways, Snake finally reached the command room.

"Cutter will be with you in a few minutes sir" said a marine posted at the door, referring to the son of the late Captain Cutter.

Snake sat himself down in one of the chairs around the center table and waited. While he was waiting, he went over his last few days. His commandeering of the escape pod aboard the escape ship, which reminded him to find out why somebody build one aboard an escape ship, his retrieval by the UNOC from the North Atlantic, and finally his assignment to meet with the new Captain Cutter.

"So you're the famous Solid Snake huh? Glad to finally meet ya!" said the Captain as he walked in from the other side of the room.

"Yes, and you must be the son of the great Captain Cutter, Jason Cutter" responded Snake warmly as he got up to shake hands with the commander of the ship.

"Yep, that's me, dear old dad told me a lot about you, ya know, big fan of yours. Anyways, let's begin with the meeting, and by the way, put that thing away, all United Nations Space Command ships have a strict non-smoking policy" Snake took his cigar out and threw it on the ground, quickly stepping on it. "Marines, please take your posts outside the room" Cutter said to the 7 Marines in the room, 2 went out to the left of Snake, 2 out the right, 2 out to the door behind Cutter, and 1 out the door behind Snake to join the marine already out there.

"So you're from that fighting organization, the smash bros, right? Good, I hear they have some of the most dangerous people in the galaxy in there. So from what I hear, you guys escaped from an outer-galaxy planet, but your ship was torn apart in the resulting shockwave, and you all got separated. Is this correct?" asked Cutter.

"I guess so, although I don't know anything about a shockwave, I just know that something tore our ship to pieces" said a confused Snake.

"Serena, tell Snake about what we know from the cataclysm, if you would" A light blue woman appeared in the middle of the table from a small projector. "Snake, this is Serena, the A.I. on board the Spirit of Fire".

"Pleased to make your acquaintance Snake, now from what we have gathered, the tournament on Ivalice2 ended in some sort of giant explosion. The systems that were on the west to north, Earth direction, sections of the galaxy were hit by a large shockwave of energy, the content of which is currently unknown. Our scanners still detect something where the planet was though. But what we want is our friendly neighborhood Spartan, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 back. He was on that planet, but he was on an escape ship we provided just in case. But like your ship, it was torn to pieces in the shockwave. We have picked up his signal on an uninhabited planet in the middle rim. We want to go to that system and look for him" said Serena as various demonstrations of the energy wave hitting the planets on a map of the known galaxy was shown.

"So where do I come in?" asked Snake, still wondering why they called him here.

"You get the privilege of leading the search party to look for the Chief" responded Cutter.

"Why do we need to search for him? Don't you have a signal on his exact location?"

"He is on an uninhabited planet, probably full of dangerous plants and animals; we just need you to help him get to the ship safely"

"And if I refuse?" asked Snake, eyeing the Captain warily.

"You don't" Snake gasped at the statement. "The Spirit of Fire is already halfway out of Earth's atmosphere. We've already taken off" continued Cutter as a window opened to show Snake what Europe looked like from Space.

- - - - - - -

Back in Hyrule, Marth's group was making their way to Hyrule Castle, as they were told by Marth and Peach. It was basically based on what Zelda knew of the region, even though Link would have probably been a better source, so they were hoping they were going in the right direction.

"So how did you fall asleep in our fire ring?" asked Link, curious about the stranger.

"Well, I'm not so sure myself, I remember being in the tournament on Ivalice, and then Juris and the big scary knight guy collided, and then… I was in the pink thing's stomach" said James, looking up at the sky, as if that would help him remember.

"Interesting, we just found you laying face-first, dozing away in our fire ring. Oh well, it doesn't really matter, we can figure out that kind of stuff later, we just need to find some permanent shelter. I can't stand being with all of those people all at once"

"Why?"

"I don't know; I'm just a solitary kind of guy I guess. I enjoy small gatherings, but not with so many people" Link finished the conversation and strolled off to walk by himself, trying to listen to the sounds of nature, which oddly enough were not there.

An hour or so later, they finally reached Hyrule Castle, and the experience was similar to Mario's group. They could only see the walls, but they could tell something bad had happened. The walls were still standing, but they were heavily decayed, with some of the top chunks laying in the river. It was still too tall to get over though, and they drawbridge was up. It was a good five minutes before anybody offered any idea on how to get inside.

"How about we throw rocks to break down the drawbridge?" offered Luigi.

"Nice try, but no. This door was built to withstand 3-ton battering ram heads made of iron. Rocks won't do it" said Link, very knowledgeable on this sort of thing.

"What if Donkey Kong threw a boulder at it?" asked Peach, waiting for signs of approval and disapproval.

"No, better idea, DK throws BOWSER at the door, that'll blow down this old, rotting, piece of driftwood for sure" Asserted Captain Falcon (he should know, right?).

"But that could hurt Bowser, we can't put him in harm's way. We're in this together now, we can't risk him getting hurt" countered Zelda.

"And I agree with her, besides, how would we fix up Bowser if he DID get hurt?" added Marth.

Meanwhile, DK liked the idea, and snuck up behind Bowser. He began making a few overhead throwing motions to warm up, and then picked up Bowser.

"Hey, what're you doing?" asked a very scared and helpless Bowser once he felt his shell being grabbed. The others turned to watch, and while Zelda and Marth protested, DK didn't stop. He started to spin him around, and threw him Mario bros style. The turtle went flying towards the drawbridge, and smashed into it… and got stuck. It was quite comical, actually, seeing the turtle hanging by his shell.

"Get me out of here! Don't let me fall though, I don't like deep water!" yelled Bowser as he tried moving his limbs around, but to no avail.

"Bowser, the moat is only 7 feet deep" said Zelda in a reassuring tone.

"That's 6 inches taller than me, and I can't swim!"

"Okay, just calm down, I'm sure we'll think of something"

"I've got an idea!" they heard as Falcon began sprinting towards the moat. "Falcon…"

"Trip" said Marth as he stuck his sword out nonchalantly. Falcon did trip, and his momentum carried him into a face plant on the wall below Bowser. He fell into the moat, unconscious.

"That's odd, he floats, I would've thought he sinks" said Roy.

"He's got a head full of hot air, I expected him to float" said Peach while looking disdainfully at the man floating in the water.

Zelda felt the air grow tenser, just slightly tenser, as the smashers heard a large crack in the bridge.

"Hey guys, can you get me out fast, before it br-" Bowser was cut off by another large crack and fell into the moat, right on top of Falcon. Who, by the way, immediately woke up. Bowser was suddenly thrown across the moat, and onto dry land, by a very unhappy and wet Captain Falcon.

"Alright; problem solved, let's go in" said Roy in a very cheery voice.

The smashers all got across the moat in their various ways. Roy and Marth used Blazer and Dolphin Slash respectively, DK spun across, Falcon used Falcon Dive (it actually goes upwards), Peach floated across, Kirby jumped across, G&W used his trampoline, Luigi used the Green Missile, Zelda used her wind spell (forgot what it was called), Link and Toon Link used their spin attacks, and James just froze the water and walked across.

"Welcome to Hyrule Market Town everybody" announced Zelda in a somber tone once they walked in to the half-destroyed marketplace.

- - - - - - -

**Ephraim: The is very busy studying right now for his AP classes, so he just wanted to tell you that he liked the chapter, and wanted to remind you to review, so go do it. He would also like to thank "Random Reader" whoever you are, for reviewing, and also has a message for you.**

**_Thank for reviewing, I would normally PM you but I can't. Anyways, thanks for taking the two minutes and making my day. And tell me if you actually did guess right, I'd be interested to know if I made it too obvious. Thanks for wishing me luck too. _**

**_The "Immortal" Sir NZ_**


	6. Step Six

**Sir NZ: If you guys are still wondering, I am indeed alive; I have just gone through a very difficult phase of writer's block. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own James and the mystery character. Take a guess who it is. **

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Six**

**Settle Into Your New Home**

The rebuilding of Mushroom Castle was going very well for Mario's group. Ness, Ganondorf and Mario were focusing on rebuilding the structures (doorways, walls) while Samus and Falco were focusing on building the interior stuff (furniture mostly).

However, there was one problem that was separating this big, happy, family. Falco and Samus begun to get along better once they started working together, however Samus and Ganon just couldn't seem to get along. They ate dinner in separate rooms, always glared at each other when they were in the same vicinity, and never respected what the other had to say about anything. But on the day that the first floor was finally rebuilt, their hate for each other boiled over.

"Does anybody have any idea how we are going to haul the stones up to the rebuild the second floor's walls?" asked Mario to his group as they were eating dinner on the foyer's floor (they don't have a table yet).

"What if Ness used his psychic powers to throw the stones up there?" offered Samus, still in her power suit.

"No way stupid! If he threw the stones up there, they would break the floor as they land! Besides, he can't throw things like that with his powers, look at how shrimpy and small he is!" yelled Ganon as he pointed at Ness.

"At least I'm contributing you oaf!" yelled Samus as she stood up. Falco noticed she held her cannon arm behind her back, and noticed a soft blue light coming from it.

"Bad ideas are worse than no ideas, Blondie!" countered Ganondorf as he stood up as well. Mario noticed he held his right fist behind his back, and noticed he there was purple light coming from it.

"Look who's talking you wannabe gangster!" continued Samus as Falco noticed the blue light getting bigger.

"Look who's talking, slut!" continued Ganon as Mario noticed the purple light getting much more intense.

"That's it!" screamed Samus as she fired her half-charged Zero Laser at Ganondorf.

"You want a piece of me bitch?!" roared Ganon as he converted the Warlock Punch energy into a beam of dark energy.

"Stop it! Both of you! Mamma Mia, we just finished the first floor!" tried Mario, but he was drowned out by the sound of the two beams crashing into each other.

Eventually, both beams started to die down, their users too tired to continue fighting.

"Meet me out here first tomorrow morning; I'm very angry at both of you for acting so childish. We'll continue this discussion in the morning" said Mario, going to sleep in his room. Falco picked up Samus and dropped her off in her room, and shrimpy Ness picked up Ganon with his psychic powers and dropped him off in his room.

- - - - - - - -

The World was as quiet as it had been the past 25 years, the green light filtering down to the scene below. The Crowd was still as unmoving as ever, stuck in their state of chaos for the rest of their lives. Chaos, that thing that always reared its ugly head at the worst times. Chaos, the evil brother to Order, which always had a tendency to lose to Chaos. Chaos, the thing that was so easily carried from one place to another, spread like a disease by armies and plagues alike.

The ripple came back, and stole another member of the crowd back from its eternal state of shock. But the ripple did something else. Of the two men in the middle of the arena, one of them moved, just the slightest bit, but moved nonetheless. The ambassador of Chaos was beginning to free himself from this prison.

975 years left.

- - - - - -

A golden light shone as a feminine figure appeared on the floor of the castle, not long after everyone else left.

- - - - - -

"Gotta keep on rockin' someday gonna make it too the top… HE'S A JUKEBOX HERO!"

_Why do Space Marines have the odd impulse to sing at top of their lungs?_

"Gotta keep on rockin' that boy's gotta play on top… HE'S A JUKEBOX HERO!"

_The world may never know._

Snake sat for the whole stupid ride to the stupid planet listening to those stupid marines who tricked him into this stupid mission sing various stupid songs at the top of their stupid lungs. That's why he was happy when he got off the stupid ship and onto the stupid planet's stupid surface. It was a desolate planet, not very much scenery in sight, except for a distant forest. _Looks like that's the best place to start._

"Snake? This is Cutter, we are going to close the doors to the ship every night at sundown, so don't even try knocking past that time, okay?" said Cutter from Snake's codec.

_Is this guy trying to be funny or something? Don't even try knocking?_ "Yes sir Cutter, understood. Snake, out" finished Snake as he turned off his Codec.

Get this Master Chief guy, get him to the ship, and then get the Hell off this planet. Should be easy enough. He started walking towards the forest and saw a pillar of smoke. _Guess that's where their boy is._ The hours ticked by as Snake reached the forest at about 3, then lost track of time as he went deeper and deeper into the forest. He finally found a clearing with what looked like an opened up ODST drop pod.

"Is there a Mr. Chief here? Yeah, I'm here to pick you up on orders from Captain Cutter" said Snake out loud.

Snake felt himself get grabbed from behind "Who's asking?" said a deep, gruff, voice from behind.

"Solid Snake of Earth, clone of Big Boss (**A/N: Is this right? I haven't played a Metal Gear game so I don't know**)" he answered as best he could, his throat being grabbed and all. He felt the grip loosen and turned around. He saw a man in Green power armor carrying an assault rifle and a SMG on his back.

"Cutter sent you huh? Well, I'm the Master Chief, John-117. Pleasure to meet you" said MC, extending a hand. Snake took it and became all too aware of this man's strength via the grip he had in the handshake.

"So which way is the ship?"

"That way…" started Snake, suddenly unsure of which way he came from. "Never mind, I'll figure it out once dawn comes again"

"Well, I've been staying aboard this old Covenant ship over here, we can just sleep here for the night and head back in the morning" Said MC as walked into what looked like an old crash site.

Snake looked around in awe of the advanced alien technology the ship possessed.

"This is amazing" said Snake, pushing a few of the buttons nearby.

"Don't touch anything, just in case"

No more words were shared as the two laid down to rest.

- - - - - - -

_Outside of known space…_

"Sending you to that Tournament was the worst decision we have ever made"

"Nay, sending you with only one warship into human-controlled space was the worst decision we have made"

"We will never send you near them ever again no matter what" Finished the third prophet of the Covenant.

"Yes, my prophets" was all the Arbiter could say. He was currently on the Covenant ship _High Charity_ listening to the Prophets of Truth, Regret and Mercy apologize to him.

_High Charity_ was the capital city/ship of the Covenant and as such, was a very large ship. It also picked up every signal from every ship and there was always a large fleet standing by. It was at this time they picked up a curious signal and decided to relay it to the prophets.

"Sirs, Sirs, recon ship _Indulgence_ gave us the all clear to attack! We have put all ships on standby, should we attack?" asked a Grunt in its high, squeaky voice as it walked in.

"Really, that's great news! Attack the heretics immediately!" yelled the Prophet of Truth.

"But Hierarchs, that ship crashed 10 years ago, and I thought we didn't want to attack the humans anymore" said the Arbiter, stunned at the news.

"It sent us a signal Arbiter, that's good enough for us" added the Prophet of Mercy.

"Where is your faith Arbiter? After all, you ARE leading the attack" said the Prophet of Regret.

"O glorious Hierarchs, do not doubt my faith, but didn't you just say that you would never send me back there again?" asked the Arbiter, thoroughly confused.

"But this is a special circumstance Arbiter, we will complete the Great Journey at long last! This is a joyous occasion! Get in your flagship Arbiter and head out immediately!" Said Mercy, Prophet, and Regret respectively.

"Yes, my Prophets" said the Arbiter as he got down on a knee and bowed his head. He left the room still wondering how the ship managed to get a signal out after such a long time of inactivity.

- - - - - - -

As Marth's group walked through Hyrule Market on their way to the castle, they, like Mario, were extremely saddened by the dismal state of their beloved home. The castle itself was in bad shape too, large chunks of the walls were missing, the doors were half gone, and all the plants were dead. Nobody said anything as they walked through the front door into the foyer.

"Welcome to my home, friends" said Zelda in as cheerful of a voice as she could muster.

"I'm sorry about the castle Zelda, we will fix it up as soon as possible, okay?" comforted Link as he put his arms around her. She looked like she was about to cry, her head down, her arms clasped together. Marth felt a twinge of jealousy at his missed opportunity and Peach came in and offered a hug to Zelda, to which the latter accepted.

"So just please choose a room and meet me in the dining hall for dinner at 8 please" continued Zelda, choking down tears as she said them.

Everyone walked up the various stairways and found themselves a room near friends, each noting the disarray of the hallways.

_A Few Hours Later…_

Everyone met down in the dining hall for dinner at eight, it was noted that Marth, Roy, Zelda and Peach were missing.

"Late dinner huh?" asked Link to James, who was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, were I come from, we eat at around 5. So I'm starving right now" commented James as his stomach grumbled, as if on cue.

"I wonder what's for dinner? I hope it's something good" asked Link while liking his lips.

"Yeah, maybe a Pizza or a Cheeseburger would be nice right now" said James looking into the sky dreamily.

Link just looked at him like he was from a different planet. (I guess he is, but you get my point) "Pitzah? Cheesebergur?" asked Link.

"Some of the common food on my planet" _Rachel used to love Pizza. I wonder what she's doing now?_

Everybody looked to the door at the far end of the room, as it burst open, Roy and Peach coming out.

"Hello everybody, we are your waiters tonight, drinks will be coming momentarily, and the food will be ready in the next ten minutes" said Peach in her cheery voice.

"Who's cooking?" yelled Falcon.

"Chef Marth and Chef Zelda are cooking your food tonight" answered Roy.

"Oh great, we've got the sissy boy cooking our food" grumbled Falcon as he folded his arms.

To Link's great delight, they brought out cooked Cucco, one of his favorites, also something which everybody else ended up enjoying, except for Luigi, since he was vegan, they just gave him some carrots and cheese. After the meal, Peach and Roy took all the dinnerware to be washed in the kitchen and then came back out with Zelda and Marth.

"So let's talk about what needs to be done around here" started Marth "I think we need to fix this place up, it's looking a little drab right now"

"That won't be necessary Marth" said Link, with an as-a-matter-of-fact look on his face.

"And why not, F- my good woodsman, do you think this place will rebuild itself" said Marth catching himself from saying fairy boy in front of Zelda.

"Actually… I do" said Link. Marth looked over to Zelda to confirm.

"Marth, Hyrule has been around a very long time. There have been countless dynasties, wars, battles, uprisings and legends that all revolve around Hyrule. At the center of Hyrule is the castle, it's heart if you will. The price of living in the castle is that the castle will take some of your energy ever day, and rebuild itself. It isn't an instantaneous process, but it will happen" explained Zelda.

"Never mind then, I guess we'll just stay here and live while the castle rebuilds itself, while waiting for a way home" said a still-amazed Marth, staring at the floor.

"Like _Robinson Crusoe_?" asked Luigi, excitement on his face.

"Who?" asked Marth and Roy at the same time.

"Robinson Crusoe is a fictional character who lives on an island, relatively easily might I add, while he awaits a way home" clarified Peach.

"I suppose so… anyways, you are all dismissed to go to bed" said Marth, regaining his regal attitude.

Everybody filed out the dining hall, softly talking as they made their way to bed. Marth caught Zelda on the way out.

"Princess, I-" started Marth as he was cut off by Zelda, an annoying trait he noticed she had.

"Please, call me Zelda" said she with a smile.

"Alright, Princess Zelda, I would like to know more about your magnificent kingdom of Hyrule here" he said as waved his arm around in a circle.

"Well, it's not really magnificent right now, but I will tell you all that you wish to know" said Zelda while heaving a sigh.

Zelda and Marth walked up the stairs, quietly talking about the geography and peoples of Hyrule, all the way up to their rooms, which were right next to each other, with Link's right across the hallway.

"I guess this is where we part Princess Zelda" said Marth with a little bow. "It was a pleasure to accompany you to your room"

Zelda giggled "As it was I to be accompanied by you Marth, good night Prince" said Zelda as she closed her door and waved good-bye.

"What a beautiful and refined woman she is" said Marth quietly to himself as he walked into his room.

What they didn't know was somebody was listening…

- - - - - - -

_Disgusting, simply disgusting._ Thought Link to himself as he was listening from behind his door. He was tired a few moments ago but heard Marth and Zelda coming up to their rooms. Intrigued, he listened to the whole conversation. Now he wasn't tired, his blood was boiling at that vile "prince" as he calls himself. _All my hard work over the years, saving Zelda, being her best friend, being the only person she could really talk to, and now this __**ONE **__guy comes in with his fancy armor and shiny sword, and gets as far as I got in 10 years in 1,2… 3 days!_ As we can see, Link was not in the mood to sleep, or calm down for that matter.

**Why don't you tell me about it?**

_There isn't much to say, I mean, from what I've gathered, this guy is fairly good-looking, and he apparently is just THE smartest guy… and all this stupid stuff._

**But neither of those mean he's good with women.**

_Of course not, I'm ten times better looking than Marth is, if that were true, I'd be married already to some hot babe from an exotic planet._

**So why is he good with women?**

_Because he has that pretty boy charm, did you see the way he made her giggle? I'll bet he had that whole conversation planned out beforehand._

**Maybe you should try it out.**

Link turned around and said aloud "Why do these walls make such good conversation?"

"**Because I'm not a wall dumbass"** thought/said Mewtwo as he appeared right in front of Link.

"OMG FML you almost gave me a heart attack Mewtwo!" yelled Link.

"Quiet down; do you want the whole castle to hear our conversation?" hissed Mewtwo, his purple eyes hardly moving as always.

"No, but wait, you said I should try it?" whispered Link curiously.

"Yes, right now you are just trying to win her heart by spontaneously doing things without a plan. I've got news for you, only guys like Marth and Roy have that kind of charm, YOU have to plan it"

Link gave him a blank stare.

"In terms you would understand, it's like charging into battle without a plan. You will lose, unless you outnumber the enemy 100 to 1. If you make a plan, your chances of victory will increase exponentially, even if you are outnumbered" carefully clarified Mewtwo.

"So you are saying I should plan out my entire day?" asked Link.

"Not really, try conversations first, then if you do well, you will need to plan days for dates, but let's go one step at a time"

"I still don't know how to plan out conversations though…" said Link with a sigh.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, and remember, you have something Marth doesn't have" said Mewtwo as he began to fade away.

"What do I have? Please tell me" said Link, close to crying. "Is it the Master Sword? Is it my infinite bag of wonders? Or maybe my devilishly stylish pointy hat?" asked Link, his voice slowly raising with each question. But Mewtwo was gone. _Damn, he didn't tell me, now I'll have to wait for the next time he comes back, whenever that will be._

Link was feeling down as he undressed and laid down on his bed and prepared to blow out his lone candle. A creak in the ceiling caught his attention and he looked at it. There, written in neat, black print, were the words: **You have 9 years and 362 more days of time with Zelda than he does.**

_I love you Mewtwo._

Meanwhile…

"I swear, if Skippy wakes me up in the middle of the night, talking to himself, I am seriously going to Pawnch him in the nose" mumbled Captain Falcon to nobody in particular as he rolled over in his bed.

- - - - - - -

**Sir NZ: I finished a whole chapter in one day. I'm so proud of myself. BTW, I would like to thank Pikana (if she's reading this) for unintentionally clearing me of writer's block (for now) when asking me about a pairing in her story **_**Wrath's Journey.**_** Go read it if you have some spare time, It's a great story, but make sure you read **_**Marth's Curse or Pikana's Visit**_** (same story) first. Don't forget to review. Thanks Again**

_**The "Immortal" Sir NZ**_


	7. Step Seven

**Ephraim: Tonight, on How to Rebuild a Galaxy, we have something very terrible for you to endure. The author's first attempt at Mario's Italian accent. Muhahahaha!**

**Sir NZ: Another boring trip, another chapter of HtRaG. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nobody except James and the mystery character.**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Seven**

**Begin the Invasion!**

As Mario said, Samus awoke at 6:30 to meet him at seven in the foyer, hoping to displace some of his anger at her by being up early, something she noticed he thought highly of. Once she opened up the brand new doors that she and Falco made last week, she was greeted by a startling sight. She saw Mario leaning over a girl who was lying on the floor. Curious, she walked up beside Mario and asked him what was going on.

"I don't-a know, but when I walked-a down here this morning, I saw her a-sleeping here" said Mario, the girl still occupying his full attention.

"She looks foreign" was all Samus could come up with.

"Well-a, her choice of attire looks-a kinda weird" agreed Mario. The girl was dressed in some sort of pink-ish chainmail, with an axe on her back. She had smooth, blue pants on that looked like they were made from some sort of durable cloth. They flipped her over, to look for any injuries on her back. Oddly enough, they didn't find any, just two long tears in her chainmail.

"So what should we do with her?" asked Samus, who, she had to admit, would have liked nothing more than to have another girl to talk to.

"We wait-a till she wakes up, then interrogate her. Good-a cop, bad-a cop style" answered Mario, with a smile on his face.

"Are you serious?"

"Of-a course not" said Mario, chuckling quietly "We'll just give her a bed, then-a ask questions later" Or, this is what he would have done, if she hadn't woken up right then. Her eyes slowly opened, looking into the face of Samus first, and then Mario. She laid on the floor with a glazed look in her eyes, before she realized she wasn't where she thought she was. She sat up, and quickly looked back and forth between the two strangers standing over her.

"Where am I?" she said, very worriedly.

"You are in the castle of the Mushroom Kingdom… or at least what we've rebuilt of it" answered Mario, while holding his hand out motioning to the room she was in.

"I'm in THE Mushroom Kingdom? You mean the galaxy-famous one right? I've always wanted to come here ever since I was a little girl!" exclaimed the girl while standing up and looking around excitedly.

"Well, unfortunately, the Mushroom Kingdom you once knew is out of commission for the time being" said Samus in a very cold manner. The girl immediately turned around to look at Samus with a questioning face.

"We don't exactly know what happened to the castle, but we suspect it was burned down. We also arrived in time to find the village of toads murdered" sadly answered Mario.

"But who would do something like that? What has the Mushroom Kingdom done to anybody to wish such a thing upon them? The Mushroom Kingdom is one of the most peaceful planets in the galaxy" asked Rachel, her expression quickly changing to one of sorrow.

"We told you, we don't know, but whomever it is an evil mastermind who poses a serious threat to the entire galaxy" said Samus, and before Rachel could answer…

"Hello, my good homies, what is the upness?" said a very loud Ganondorf, who barged in the door, yawning very loudly after he was done with his greeting. Rachel looked at Ganondorf for a quick second before looking back to Samus with a raised eyebrow.

"No, definitely not, he's not a mastermind, nor does he pose a serious threat to anybody except my sanity. He's pretty pathetic actually" snapped Samus while nodding her head back and forth slowly.

"Samus shush" said Mario, looking at Samus, and then to Ganondorf "Good morning, Ganondorf, did you sleep well?" asked Mario politely.

"Yes, in fact I did, I am refreshed and ready to contribute to today's discussion on how we are going to continue working on the second story of this most beautiful castle" said Ganondorf.

"Of-a course, Ganondorf we will talk about that later, right now-a, we have a visitor" said Mario, seemingly forgetting the events of last night with Ganondorf's seemingly cheerful attitude.

"O, do we?" asked Ganondorf with a smile while turning to Rachel. He certainly looked evil, and his comment sent chills down her spine, but she was surprised at his nearly spotless teeth.

"We do, her name is…" began Mario as he realized he didn't ask her what her name was yet "I-a forgot to ask you your name, what is it-a?" he asked as he turned to the girl, a bit embarrassed at his lack of manners.

"My name is Rachel Barlan" said the girl, with a confident look on her face, her arms crossed across her chest.

"Where are you from? That axe on your back looks dangerous. I don't know of any place in the galaxy where they let women run around with weapons like that" asked Falco as he entered the room, stretching his arms out wide. Both Samus and Rachel gave him a glare, and Ganondorf recalled his native Gerudo tribe back on Hyrule.

"I'm from Earth. The crossroads of the galaxy" answered Rachel in an annoyed tone. Falco's first impression on her wasn't a good one.

"An Earthling, hmm? I'm from the Lylat system" said Falco, returning her glare. That meant only one thing and it was that she wasn't going to get along with this guy. Ever since the U.N.S.C defeated the Lylat system in the last Great War, the Lylat system had been trying to one-up the U.N.S.C in everything, and that didn't come off well on Earth.

"Wait, I think I recognize you from somewhere. Aha! You were in the last application tournament, weren't you?!" realized Samus.

"Yeah… Yeah I was, I don't know how I got here though" said Rachel, looking around again. Almost as if on cue, Ness walked through the door, his hand on his head.

"Guys, I have another headache, can I be excused from the discussions today?" whined Ness, as he slowly wobbled over to the group. "Who is this?"

"Name's Rachel, nice to meet you" said Rachel cheerfully as she held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, so can I just stay in bed today, or what?" Ness quickly changed the subject, and ignored her outstretched hand. Rachel cut the guy some slack; otherwise she would have yelled in his face and scared the shit out of him. Instead, she just narrowed her eyes and dropped it.

"So, we have the same…" started Mario, as he closed his eyes, his ring finger pointing towards the ceiling.

"Wait, Ness, didn't you have a headache when we crashed?" Samus interrupted. Ness nodded. "I think that Ness' headaches have something to do with how people get here" assured Samus, putting two and two together.

"What do you mean?" asked Ganondorf, his large arms folding across his chest.

"I think there may be something supernatural that brought us here. I mean, Ness is a psychic boy, right? It would make sense he could sense large waves of energy that are out of the ordinary, and since they are so large, it would probably give him headaches" Samus tried to explain. The others were silent as they tried to make sense of what she was proposing.

"Makes sense to me" finally said Rachel. The others turned towards her with quizzical looks, urging her on to explain further.

"Well, that's just the only thing that makes sense. All I remember after Nightmare and Juris rushed towards each other is a bright flash, a momentary green light, and then I was on the floor in this castle" defended Rachel, looking for a sign of anybody who challenged her. _C'mon, bird brain, you know you want to._ Falco may have thought she was out of her mind, but there was no way he was going to protest about some weird mumbo-jumbo that he didn't understand.

"So, about the problem of the second story…" started Mario as they began discussing possible solutions.

- - - - - - -

The space all around High Charity was bustling with activity, all of the ships mobilizing for the coming assault on the neighboring galaxy. There wasn't anybody not working, grunts loading weapons onto the phantoms, jackals making sure all vehicles and spacecraft were ready to deploy, and elites and brutes coordinating it all. On the Arbiter's flagship, _Grave Repentance_, the Arbiter was discussing the Prophets' battle plans.

"Arbiter, we plan to use that explosion to our advantage in this great endeavor" said Regret, through the ship's holographic communicator, which all three of the Prophets were using.

"Yes, it was a sign from gods that we should invade, and bring peace to the galaxy" said Mercy, looking up to the sky as if thanking the gods as he did so.

"Tell me what you wish me to do, and I will obey" said the Arbiter, going down on one knee.

"That explosion wiped out many planets, which would otherwise provide opposition, forming a glorious path that will lead us to victory in the process" explained Truth. "It also appears that there is some sort of unrest in the Mushroom Kingdom, which takes out one of the strongest mid-rim defenses. That means our strongest opposition will be from the heretics and the animals"

"Arbiter, we have put a fleet under your command the size of which they have never seen before, they have no chance for victory. The Great Journey will finally be complete!" exclaimed Regret, shaking his fist vigorously.

"Once the heretics are out of the way, we can activate the holy rings and cleanse this galaxy, completing the goals of the Covenant and quieting the universe for all time" said Mercy, bowing his head and imagining complete and total victory.

"It is done, Hierarchs" said the Arbiter as he got off his one knee and the holographic images of the Prophets disappeared from his vision. He walked through the long, purple hallways of the ship and made his way to the command center.

It was true that the Prophets had been building this fleet for such a glorious moment, and that not one ship was spared, save _High Charity_ itself, for this invasion. It was also true that the Covenant was the most advanced in space technology in the known universe, but their power was rivaled on the ground by those meddlesome humans. He commanded a fleet of 35 warships, 63 battle cruisers, and hundreds of Phantoms, which in themselves contained thousands of troops, weapons, and assault vehicles for once they got on the planets.

But as he sat in his captain's chair, he had his doubts about the mission. Hadn't the Prophets talked of complete and utter domination two decades before, during the last invasion? That one was turned back by the stubborn resistance of the Alteans, who despite their completely heretical faith, had managed to hold the Covenant off long enough for Earth and the Lylat system to build extra defenses on the various planets.

No, this one would not be turned back. There was no way in hell this holy crusade could be turned back, even thinking to the contrary was heretical. The engines were ready, troops motivated, all guns loaded.

"Onwards, to the defeat of all those who defy us!" shouted the Arbiter over his intercom, so as to announce their presence to the galaxy.

- - - - - -

The next morning (from the last Hyrule section), a bright yellow sun rose on Hyrule's varied landscapes, highlighting the decimation of the capital city and Kakariko village. This radiant sunshine awoke Roy, who always woke up early to train. He woke up with a small yawn and got ready to train, getting on the light garments he always wore under his armor to go running. He believed it was a Tuesday, and he always ran on Tuesday morning. He turned around to open the door and found Peach standing there.

"Good Morning Roy" said the princess with a bright smile as he opened the door. Roy, however wasn't prepared to meet someone, and ran straight into her. He landed on top of her, and she noted he was quite heavy, even without his armor. He quickly got up and held out his hand.

"Geez, I'm sorry Peach, I didn't see you there" said Roy quickly, while helping her up.

"It's okay Roy, you didn't hurt me or anything" said Peach, trying to be polite. Even though she probably had dirt on her bottom, he was sincerely sorry. "Anyways, I wanted to know if you would help me find some vegetables that may have survived in the garden"

Finding vegetables in the garden? That sounded like the just the thing he **really didn't** want to do right now. "Sorry Peach, but I have a training schedule I have to stick to right now. Maybe some other time" apologized Roy. Well, it was true, he had already missed one this week, and he really didn't want to miss another.

"Oh, really? That's too bad, I wanted some company this lovely morning but I guess I'll just do it alone" her voice betrayed the slightest hint of disappointment.

He jogged off, eager to get out of the awkward situation and get to the castle grounds. He tried to comfort himself by saying that everything was dead anyways and that doing so would be a waste of time. He still felt guilty leaving her to do it alone though. He also wondered if she woke up so early to so in her won kingdom? Surely she had servants to do it for her?

When he stepped outside, he was extremely surprised at the sight. The plants outside were no longer dead. At least, not completely. The trees still had no leaves, but were a healthy brown instead of the somber gray color they had yesterday. Some of the plants' stalks were also straight up again, instead of fallen on the ground. Even the castle looked slightly more grayish, and there were less burn marks on the walls than yesterday.

Zelda and Link were telling the truth, it looked like. But they said that the castle took a little bit of their energy, even though it looked like it took a lot of energy to do this much. He shook it off because Zelda probably had an explanation for it. He went on a jog, and began memorizing the terrain of his new home.

- - - - - - -

For most people, the accepted wake-up time was several hours later than the crack of down. The dining hall was also the default meeting place it seemed. First up was Zelda, who in turn woke up Link when she opened her door, and they both came downstairs. Zelda first, with Link following close behind. Next came Luigi, then DK and Kirby, all three, stumbling down the stairs in an almost hilarious manner. After that, Peach was bringing up a bucket of water to her room to wash up with, but spilled it on the stairs when her shoe caught on the last stair. Marth came down next, looking completely awake, in full armor, careful to avoid the water, lest his luxurious cape get water on it. Afterwards, James walked down the stairs, subconsciously turning the water into ice when he walked on it. Next came everybody's favorite turtle with everybody's super-awesome racer right behind him. Bowser, who was actually awake, avoided the ice with great caution, like a good honest citizen should. Captain Falcon, on the other hand, was too busy yawning to notice the ice (which was conveniently in the middle of the stairway), and slipped face first down the stairs, and barreled straight into Bowser, who was too slow to get out of the way.

Everyone else in the dining room came out to find out what all the commotion. They couldn't say they were surprised when they saw Falcon and Bowser had tumbled down the stairs.

"Are you guys okay? Marth, Link go help them up" commanded Zelda to the two unwilling men.

Marth quickly headed for Falcon, which left Link with Bowser. Link, who was the stronger of the two, helped Bowser up with a heave. Marth, with a quiet "idiot" helped up Falcon with relatively no effort.

"So who's making breakfast? I'm starving" said Link, who felt the need to show his hunger by rubbing his stomach.

"I vote Zelda and Marth again, that meal last night was delicious" said James, referring to the cooked Cucco. Various Dittos, I agree, and one Not the sissy boy again gave the before mentioned smashers the job of cook.

Everyone piled into the dining room again, taking their seats from last night. Zelda and Marth opened up the door to the kitchen when they saw a very chaotic sight. Roy and Mr. Game and Watch were making breakfast at breakneck speed. Roy was handling the pancakes and waffles, while Mr. GW was making the sausage and bacon in his frying pan. They were over three-fourths of the way done.

"Guys? What are you doing?" asked Marth, with a slight tinge of anger in his voice.

"We're making breakfast, isn't it obvious?" answered Roy, while flipping 8 pancakes at once.

"Who said we wanted pancakes and waffles Roy?" answered Marth, while putting emphasis on "pancakes" and "waffles".

"What do you mean? We're nice enough to think ahead and make breakfast, and you don't want any?!" asked Roy, as he finished his current set of pancakes and walked over to Marth.

"No, we want a _real_ breakfast, not some slop fit for peasants" answered Marth, while looking down at the shorter Roy, who was standing very close to Marth. Mr. GW also turned to look, and held his head down after he heard the above statement.

"Slop fit for peasants?!!!!" Roy was angry now "Is that what my food is?! You haven't even tried it! I'll have you know that I learned from the best chef in all the land!" Roy was standing on his toes, trying to get to same height as Marth. Marth, however, was completely unfazed.

"I don't have to try it, pancakes and waffles are only so good" said Marth coolly and calmly, his blue eyes reflecting his calm attitude. Roy looked like he was going to say something lengthy, as he breathed in deep, but then thought better of it.

"C'mon Mr. Game and Watch, let's let Altea's finest cook our meal" said Roy through clenched teeth as he motioned for the little man to follow him out. Marth stood in silence as Roy went out the door with Mr. GW following.

"So now let's get down to business Zelda, what should we dazzle them with?" asked Marth as if the whole argument earlier never happened. Zelda was silent for a few moments as she thought of an answer.

"Marth, I thought he was your friend" said Zelda finally, looking at the floor. Marth looked puzzled at her question.

"Yes, he is my friend, a very good one too" said Marth, sounding very sure of his relationship with Roy.

"It didn't look like it back there" said Zelda, and when Marth didn't answer, she continued "is that how treat your friends Marth?" Zelda looked up to Marth, with a pleading expression on her face. Marth was still silent. "I think I know why you don't have very many friends Marth, it's because you don't treat anybody with any respect"

"I treat my friends with plenty of respect" the prince's wall of stoicism was beginning to crumble.

"Really? Was that respect you showed Roy back there?" she pressed.

"Of course, I was honestly telling him what I thought of his cooking. If a man wants to respect himself, he must be aware of his shortcomings" his voice began to waver.

"Have you even tried his cooking?" now she was getting somewhere.

"Not personally, but the people of his country are famous for -" began Marth.

"Have you tried his cooking?" she tried again.

"No, I haven't had the chance, but it only makes sense that his wouldn't be that good because -" started Marth again, eager to get his point across.

"I don't care Marth!" she shouted as he waved her hand around, knocking over a few dirty pans from last night's cooking "I don't care whether his PEOPLE are good cooks, I care whether HE is a good cook" that kind of talk just aggravated her. Marth stood there, and gaped at her outburst.

"You assume too much about everybody Marth, give everybody an equal chance. I've noticed you do it an awful lot with everybody you are around" she leaned on the counter, her hand on her head, breathing deeply. He just stood there, amazed that somebody would call him out on such a thing. Nobody had ever dared challenge his ways of thinking ever before.

"Let's not let these pancakes get cold, grab some plates and start serving them up" finally said Zelda as she grabbed some herself. Marth reluctantly began to grab some and followed Zelda out the door.

- - - - - -

Snake and Master Chief (we'll just call him Chief) were asleep on the crashed alien spacecraft in the jungle on the uninhabited planet. Or so they thought.

Both were fast asleep, but not everything needs sleep. They slowly began to move out their hiding places in the ship, slowly advancing towards the sleeping men. One stepped on a small piece of metal and made a small _ting._ That was enough to wake Snake up, who immediately saw the strange figure in the dim light coming from the open door.

It was small, about a foot tall, and it was yellow. It didn't appear to have anything other than a ball with many small, thin legs coming from the ball. It also appeared to have small tentacles coming from its mouth.

He immediately rolled over to Chief.

"Chief, wake up, we got a problem" whispered Snake as he shook the super soldier.

"And that would be?" said Chief lazily.

"Little yellow aliens"

"Aww Shit!" said Chief as he quickly got up and grabbed his assault rifle and loaded it. "Grab a gun and make sure they don't touch you!"

- - - - - -

**A/N: Hurray for updates! I liked this chapter personally, even though I didn't plan for it to be so long. Review as always, any feedback is appreciated!**

**The "Immortal Sir NZ**


	8. Step Eight

**Sir NZ: So… how 'bout them Padres?**

**Ephraim: He means to say that he has nothing else to say.**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own James and Rachel.**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Eight**

**Escape, Diagnose, and Discover**

"Hey Chief, do you have a spare gun? I don't think a pistol is going to work well here"

"Oh yeah, I have this SMG here"

"Wow, this thing is tricked out! The firing chamber has rifle grooves for extra accuracy, the trigger has been oiled for decreased trigger resistance, and…" he sniffed "It's all covered in a delicate lemon scent…" trailed off Snake, impressed by the quality of his weapon.

"Let's go" MC simply stated as they began backpedaling and shooting at the pursuing life forms.

The duo kept backpedaling, that is, until they ran out of ammo in their clips. At that point, they began full on sprinting through the dark forest night.

"Do we know where we're going?" asked Snake between breaths.

"Let me see if I can contact Cutter" MC was silent for a couple seconds. "Yes sir, this is Sierra – 117, can you give me directions to the ship?" More silence. "Approximately 10 miles to the north east? Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can Chief out" finished MC as they both kept running in a slightly different direction.

They ran for quite a long time on the otherwise peaceful night, the moonlight guiding their way. Snake judged it was around one in the morning from the small glimpses of the sky he could see. They quickly stopped to change out clips in their guns, and then continued running, despite the pace they were going and the distance they had to cover.

By the time they finally got of the forest, both men were slowing down, but kept up a fast pace anyways, despite losing track of their pursuers. MC turned to look at Snake, and saw the vast amount of sweat dripping off his face with each step he took. But somehow, he knew that Snake wasn't going to stop or ask for a break anytime soon, so he just kept running.

At long last, they finally reached the _Spirit of Fire_, resting on the plains, all the lights out.

"Alright Cutter, we're here, open up" said MC, not breathing hard, despite the fact that he just covered ten miles in an hour and fifteen minutes. They both waited for a response, but it didn't do any good.

"Sir, we are stuck out here with alien pursuers, I suggest you let us in if you value our lives" said MC with authority.

"I understand UNSC protocol fully well, but if I don't make it out of here alive, what will this mission have accounted to?" said MC, pacing around now, clearly agitated at Cutter's decision to leave the door closed.

"And a good night to you sir" finished MC as he cut communications with Cutter. He inhaled deeply through his suit's air filters before continuing.

"He says the doors open at six AM sharp, no exceptions whatsoever" he stated, avoiding eye contact and sounding out whatsoever in syllables. "We should take turns sleeping, I'll stay up first" not giving Snake much of a choice in the matter.

Snake laid his head down on the hard ground, but quickly fell asleep due to sheer exhaustion. MC ended up keeping watch the entire night, as nothing tried to attack them. He thought he saw moving shapes lit up by the moonlight, but he quickly dismissed it as lack of sleep.

Once six AM came around, he awoke his sleeping companion and walked up the ramp to the entrance. They were greeted inside with warmth and the faint smell of waffles being made in the mess hall. It was only when they made their way down the hall and past the slightly ajar medical bay door did they hear the outside door finally close.

_Something could have followed us in._ Master Chief glanced backwards and zoomed in his visor to make sure there were no unintended visitors who followed them in. He didn't see the anything, so he turned around and kept on walking, his hunger pushing himself to not investigate further.

_Go forth and multiply, my child._

- - - - - - -

The Arbiter was not a patient elite. Every moment they spent getting there, the more time their enemies had to build more defenses. Oh well, not like it really mattered, they would be crushed one way or the other.

He had tried to keep himself busy with training and memorizing the battle plans, but it wasn't good enough to keep his attention for a very long time each day. The long trip was beginning to take its toll on him, as he was seen walking around the ship all day, with a glazed look in his eyes, looking very bored.

The Covenant did not live in the common galaxy, like most other races. They lived many light years away, across the stars and cosmos you could see from Earth. Where they came from, all the inhabitants in their galaxy had either been wiped out or assimilated into the Covenant with fear tactics. Grunts provided labor and were cannon fodder in the battlefield. Jackals were the snipers and mechanics of the fleet. Elites and Brutes typically held higher positions, such as honor guards of the prophets or commanders of various ranks. Engineers were the medics, and Drones were used for harassment and more cannon fodder. Hunters were mysterious beings. They lived with one other Hunter, and always had their thick blue armor on. They had no eyes or mouths to speak of, yet still managed to communicate with each other. And finally the Prophets were the religious authorities of the Covenant, and in the Covenant, that meant supreme power due to their obsession with religion and history.

The Arbiter walked into the central command center and asked a navigation grunt in his deep baritone "How much longer until we reach the edge of their galaxy?"

The Grunt turned around, and then responded "It's impossible to know sir, it could be weeks or months, slipspace travel is very imprecise". He tried not to wince at the Grunt's squeaky voice. It always annoyed him to hear them speak, and he still hadn't gotten used to them.

The Arbiter bowed his head in disappointment, and walked back to sit in his fleet commander's chair. He rubbed his temples as he sighed then resigned himself to his fate of immaculate amounts of boredom.

- - - - - -

_How long has it been? Days? Weeks? Months maybe?_

The engine room was floating through space, drifting aimlessly among the eternal darkness of space. There was one figure still in the room, hunched over, almost delirious from want of food and water. Her breathing was very raspy, with no salvia keeping her mouth wet. She found it quite ironic that she controlled the engines that were still attached to the ship in every way except the ignition.

She weakly turned her head, and tried to look out the window next to her. It was a miracle she had survived this long, but her previous training had helped her out quite a bit. She was still looking for a miracle though, any sign that she might get sucked in by a planet's gravity and might be saved yet. Through the window, she saw a small orb of varying colors, a planet perhaps. What were the chances that she would actually make it there though? She closed her red eyes and tried to meditate and save energy.

- - - - - -

A few days after Rachel came to be part of Mario's raga bond group, the sun rose on the Mushroom Kingdom. It was another one of their famous sunrises, with the red rays barely reaching over the horizon, just beginning its daily job of warming the planet for the inhabitants. There were the birds chirping, flowers opening… and the lovely, rumbling sound of Ganondorf's snoring on this fine morning on the galaxy's finest planet.

Each of the smashers had chosen a different room to sleep in now that there were more rooms in the castle, with Mario nearest to the middle, Samus and Ganondorf on opposite sides of the castle, and Ness and Falco in between. Rachel didn't sleep in a room, though, she slept on the roof (or the wall-less second story's floor if you prefer), to go to bed with the moon and rise with the sun, like she did at home.

It was on this postcard-perfect morning that Rachel awoke and stood up to stretch her arms. Her back felt unusually sore for some reason, and she checked to make sure she wasn't sleeping on something on accident. Nope, nothing there. She went to go ask the one person mature enough in the castle who she could trust with such a thing.

She was having second thoughts while quietly sneaking through the castle, desperately trying not to wake up Falco, who had his room rigged with an impromptu security system, which he happened to activate by "accident" when she was walking around early in the morning two days ago. She came up to the door and hoped to dear Mateus that they were a morning person.

She quietly knocked on the door, trying to wake them up as gently as possible. Samus opened the door, while yawning, and when she opened her eyes, Rachel saw the great bags under her eyes and the disheveled look of her long blonde hair. Damn, definitely not a morning person.

"Need something?" Samus asked while yawning again. _Well, at least she isn't in a bad mood like I thought she would be._

"Uh yeah, actually, I need you to look at something" said Rachel uncertainly.

"Why don't you just get someone else to look at it? I'm tired, and probably won't be of much use anyways" Rachel looked a bit startled at the suggestion.

"Well, um… I don't really feel comfortable taking my shirt off in front of those guys... I mean-" she mumbled out before Samus immediately snapped awake and cut her off.

"Oh, it's that sort of thing, okay come on in and I'll take a look" quickly said Samus as she grabbed Rachel's wrist and pulled her inside with one hand while shutting the door behind her with the other. They heard a laser blast hit the wall down the hallway, signifying they probably set off Falco's sensitive security system.

"What's the problem? You going through puberty and you need me to teach you about all the changes or something?" Samus asked with earnest, as she appeared to enjoy being asked for help.

"Well, it's just that when I woke up this morning, my back hurt for some reason that I can't figure out. It's probably just a cramp or its tight or something stupid, but I still wanted you to look at it, since you know so much about our bodies" Samus hadn't really thought that she knew a lot about human physiology, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she did know a lot about it, definitely more than most.

"Alright, let's take a look, take off your shirt, I do **hope** you're wearing something under it right?" she said questioningly.

"Yes, of course I am" she confirmed as she took off her thin, white shirt and revealed her back to Samus. Samus noticed her missing chainmail and remarked "Not very comfortable to sleep in your armor is it?"

"Nope, not at all, I can relax a bit while I'm in my chainmail" Rachel confirmed while staring at the wall, hoping her pains were just a cramp.

"So, the pain is right here right?" Samus asked as she pushed down in two places on her back.

Rachel winced and recoiled as she said "Yes, that hurts, that's the place! How did you know?!" Samus was silent and then told her to sit down on a chair, while Samus sat on her bed.

"So, first things first, you are very, very muscular, how did you get so strong?" asked Samus, in awe because this young girl was more muscular that she was.

She shrugged "I don't know, I fight with an axe, and I always train with my chainmail on so I guess that could have something to do with it"

"Fair enough, alright, second thing, are you sure you are completely Human, or Hume as I've heard a few people on Earth call themselves?" she raised her eyebrow, suspicious of her past. She had a few options, say she was, and Samus was stumped. If she wasn't Samus had a pretty good idea what was going on.

"Well…" she trailed off. They sat in silence as Rachel contemplated her answer. "No, I'm not" Samus wasn't surprised at her answer, as what was on her back was pretty good evidence for this. "I'm an orphan. I never knew my mom very well before she… passed away, and my dad moved us when I was young to Earth" she looked down and stopped.

"And he…" beckoned Samus to continue her story.

"Died fighting the Lylatians in the Great War" she said somberly, cherishing his memory. Samus mouthed an "O" and looked away for a second.

"Well, your mom must have been some sort of humanoid creature" said Samus, hoping to clear things up soon.

"Why would you say that?" Rachel looked up, with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Because there are two tiny little bony green growths on your back, and if I'm not mistaken you are going through some kind of second puberty" Samus looked Rachel in the eye, not wavering from her diagnosis. It was clear from her expression Rachel needed an explanation, so Samus started to give her one.

"It's possible if you are only half human, that your other species may in fact have a later puberty than humans do. So it's possible you could develop some sort of attribute from your other species"

That sounded promising, maybe it could help her out in battle, or give her some sort of unique ability or something cool like that. _But maybe a little more normal human puberty couldn't hurt._ She looked down at her chest, and then her stomach. It was no secret back in school that she wasn't exactly the hottest girl around, and she knew it.

"If I had to make a prediction… you know what? Never mind, we'll see eventually" Rachel snapped back to reality and began to put her shirt back on.

"Thanks again for helping me out Samus" said Rachel, a little more cheerful this time.

"Anytime, Rachel, anytime, you need any sort of help, just knock on my door, okay?" Samus said as they walked to the door.

"Alright, will do Samus" as she walked down the hallway, Samus couldn't help smiling while she closed the door. Oddly enough, she could have sworn she heard the faint sound of a piano.

- - - - - - -

The sun rose on Hyrule again, and Roy got up to go on his morning jog. He did his normal routine, got on his shoes and opened the door. He made sure to close it lightly so he wouldn't wake anybody else up. As he slowly turned and began walking down the hall from the stairwell he heard a small whisper.

"Wait for me Roy, I'm coming with you" he turned to see Peach in shorts and a tight fitting shirt. She obviously saw his bewilderment at her appearance as she quickly explained:

"Well, seeing as how you like to run, I thought I might try it. I asked Zelda if I could borrow a few clothes, so here I am" she put her hands to her side and waited for a response. After a few seconds she asked "You do want me to come with you right?" she folded her arms across her chest, which drew Roy's eyes and that was when he really realized they were Zelda's clothes.

_Dang it, curse the gods for putting me in such an unfavorable position. Running is my time to reflect, to be alone, to just bring my world in perspective. If I compromise that, that's like compromising my identity to this girl. And she and Mario are together right? RIGHT? I mean, I wouldn't want to put a wedge in their relationship and just break them up. _

_But then again, it's not like their married or betrothed And I guess I left her behind when she invited me to pick vegetables. And it's like she's inviting me in, I mean she shows up at my door and she wants to do something she knows I'll like. It's obvious she wants to get to know me better. And she does look awful hot in that way-too small shirt she's wearing. And her hair is just amazing in that ponytail… aww what the heck, I'll let her come with me._

"Alright, I mean I'd love to go running with you" Roy smiled his flawless smile.

"Great, let's go" she practically dragged him through the hallway, ecstatic at his decision. _Hmm… maybe he likes me more than I thought._

They walked down the stairs and into the cool Hylian morning air. Roy liked this air; it felt so much better than the air on his home planet. I guess it would make sense; Hylians had trees and small settlements. Thayron **(I'm completely making this name up)** had large cities and was consumed by the industries involved in war. No doubt, it was an efficient, well-oiled planet capable of making large armies in a short time period. The only problem was of course the technology problem, but since the native countries usually fought against each other, they were all on mostly equal footing.

"So where do you run normally?" Roy snapped out of his thoughts and thought about the question. It occurred to him that he usually just ran in a different direction every time.

"No particular way. You can choose the way we run" he offered. She started running, and Roy began jogging at her side. She was running a good deal slower than the normal pace he ran, but kept at her pace so he could talk to her. They talked about themselves, their likes, dislikes, and anything else that they could bring up.

They ran to Kakariko village and ended up at the back of the village, standing by an old windmill. They were taking a quick rest, but Roy noticed that Peach's eyes kept drifting to an unmarked path.

"Do you want to go down the path?" asked Roy seriously.

"What do you mean 'go down the path'? Is that some sort of sexual innuendo that is popular among guys now?" she asked jokingly, hands on her hips.

Roy decided to play along "Yes, of course it is, Marth told me about it, why, are you interested?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not…" she turned away to look at the sky, looking back to make sure he was still looking at her. She giggled a bit when she saw he still was.

"Okay seriously, do you want to go that path right there? I see you're interested in it" he pointed towards the path.

"Yeah, I do" she relented. "It looks so dark and foreboding, kind of like a big red button that says 'do not press'. It just makes you want to press it even more doesn't it?" She turned to him with her hands out in front her, as if showing off the path. Roy nodded in agreement and started running to the path. Peach caught up quickly and they began running down the path.

It definitely got more dark and foreboding as they went down the path, until they came to a gate. The gate itself was lying on the ground in front of them, the hinges rusting off, but that just added to the overall look of the place that lay before them. Roy stepped forward, and then Peach followed.

"This is quite a dreary place, what do you think it is?" she looked around slowly as she was walking.

"It's a graveyard" he whispered as he realized that the grey rocks he was seeing were actually decayed headstones. He looked around the whole graveyard, noticing that the graveyard looked ominous, even in the daylight. His gaze drifted to the alcove above the graveyard, and then the large headstone that looked untouched.

"Let's go home and get some breakfast" she said as she grabbed his arm and tried to get him to walk away. Him, being stronger than her, didn't budge and looked dead ahead at the headstone.

"Just a sec, I want to look at something" he effortlessly pulled his arm out of her grasp and walked over to the headstone.

"Oh wait… hmm… why are boys always so headstrong?" she said quietly to herself as she stayed right behind him.

He walked up to the headstone and bent down to read it. "It says something on it"

"_Blessed are those that enter the tomb. May a sheet fall over those who walk in its hallways, so that they may be protected from death._" He scratched his chin, then said "Odd how it protects the dead from dying"

By this time, Peach was a nervous wreck, she was shaking visibly and looked all too eager to leave. "Can we go home now, I hate graveyards"

"Of course we can" they ran off towards the castle, and Roy noticed that Peach picked up the pace until they got onto the castle grounds.

- - - - - -

Link walked down the hallways, desperately looking for something to do in his spare time in the castle. The hallways were quite long and boring, with not much filling up the walls. He had always wanted to go inside the castle ever since he was a little boy, but now that he was inside, he realized it wasn't all that great.

He found where some of the other smashers went in a couple of minutes worth of walking. They appeared to be in a room purposely made for entertaining guests to the castle. It was quite a nice room, with a large window opening up to a view of Hyrule Field, with bookshelves, couches, tables and a fireplace.

He looked around the room and saw that most people were as bored as he is. G&W was staring a wall perfectly still, Luigi was writing something down in a book he had found, Falcon was napping on a couch, and Zelda was reading a book on the couch opposite Falcon's while absentmindedly answering any of Marth's questions he had about Hyrule.

Link looked for something to do, and his eye caught a chess table. He glanced at Mr. G&W, and his mind hatched an idea to perhaps impress Zelda. She liked chess right? (She does) He walked over to the small black man near the wall and asked him if he wanted to play a game of chess. He responded with a jump for joy and a small "blip!"

They walked over to the table and began playing, Link quickly making his moves, in contrast to G&W carefully going over even the simplest move. He felt like he was on fire, taking pawns left and right, dwindling G&W's numbers considerably. He quickly glanced over to Zelda to see if she was paying attention, which she was, her eyes looking up from her book and scanning the chess board.

Marth didn't really like sharing _his_ princess' attention with somebody else, and felt he had to do something about it. He quickly looked around the room for something to question her about, when his eyes rested upon half of a shattered shield in a display case above the bookcase.

"Say Zelda…" she turned her head to face him "What is the story behind that shield right there?" he asked while pointing at it. Her face turned to an expression of sadness as she turned her eyes away.

"That's something I don't like to talk about, nonetheless remember" she replied, hoping he would drop the subject.

_Back with Link…_

_So if I move my knight here, I can block that avenue of escape, then move my rook here and get a checkmate! Haha, Zelda I hope you're watchin'!_

Link moved his knight into the desired position, and once he removed his hand from the piece, G&W immediately made his move. He moved a bishop into a place where Link's knight would have blocked it where it was last turn. He took out a bell and rung two times "Beep-Blip!" It occurred to Link that he probably meant "checkmate" but that couldn't be possible. His plan was foolproof, no way he would be beaten by a two dimensional man with a one dimensional strategy! However, no matter what way he looked at it, he was trapped, beaten by a little man who couldn't even make coherent sounds. He looked over at Zelda, flabbergasted at his loss, and saw her attention occupied by Marth, luckily.

He quickly reset the pieces and left to explore other parts of the castle.

- - - - - -

_Zelda was crying as she said goodbye to her father before he went off to battle. She said she loved him and wished that it would all go away like a bad dream. He rubbed her head and told her everything would be okay. Everything was a blur as she was rushed down the halls of the castles by a servant. _

_Why did these bad men want to kill us? Why did they come? Why did they have to do it on her birthday? Today was quite possibly the worst day of her 8 year old life. All she heard were cries of despair and panic as soldiers, nobles and servants rushed around._

"_Get more archers over in the west tower!"_

"_Wait until the signal to drop the vats of oil!"_

"_Protect the ancient teachings!"_

Zelda awoke with a start, sweating profusely. She was breathing heavily, and looked out the window into the cool Hyrule night. The castle grounds were quiet aside from the crickets' chirping. She turned away from the window and laid back down into her small bed, the dream still in her head.

She tossed and turned, but still couldn't fall asleep, thanks to the dream. She decided she could just walk around a little, and stepped outside. She began to walk softly down the hallway, trying not to wake anyone up. Unfortunately, she did, as Marth peeked out his doorway to see a figure clothed in purple walking down the hall.

"What are we doing up so late my lovely Zelda?" he whispered to himself as he silently followed her.

But of course, Zelda's unceasingly loyal guardian and friend heard the flirtatious prince and prepared himself. Link grabbed his sword and bow, and followed Marth soundlessly in his leather boots.

Zelda wasn't sure what was guiding her through the castle, but she became increasingly aware that she hadn't been to this part of the castle in a very long time, if she had been there at all.

Finally she reached a door and stopped in front of it. She looked at the intricate features carved into it. She reached out to push it open, but stopped when she heard footsteps to her left. She froze in place, and then slowly turned her head to see none other than Marth walking towards her.

"Marth? Were you following me? No wait, stupid question. **Why** were you following me?" she hissed at him.

"I was just curious as to where you were going and why you were up so late" he shrugged and smiled to get her off his back maybe. It worked, or it would have, had not Link said something.

"Really, I was just wondering what YOU were doing up Marth?" Link walked out of the shadows with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I was just um…" both of the Hylians waited for an answer to Link's question. He couldn't wait any longer; he had to come up with something fast.

"Thinking of ideas for my new book! I like to think at night because I have found that I can focus harder at night" It was obvious that neither Link nor Zelda bought it, but they dropped it anyways.

"So do either of you want to see what's behind this door? I'm curious to see what's behind it"

"Yep" "I would love to princess"

They pushed open the door and found themselves in a large, dark room.

"F- Link, do you have anything that could light up this place?" Marth looked in Link's general direction, hoping that the imbecile would have SOMETHING to light up this place.

"No, all I brought was the Master Sword and a Bow, ask Zelda"

"If I had a torch, I could light it with din's fire, but-" she stumbled upon a torch and lit it on fire "How convenient"

The three looked in awe at the room around them. They couldn't see all of it, but that only added to the grandeur of the room. There were old wooden bookshelves in rows everywhere they could see, and each of these were piled high with ancient texts from ages long past.

"It must be some sort of library" said Marth after a minute or so.

"No, It's not just any library, It's the Library of Time" corrected Link

- - - - - - - - -

**Sir NZ: Longest chapter yet, about 5,000 words. I don't know why but this chapter was a pain to write. And anyone who gets the Decline of Video Gaming reference in this chapter gets an EVIL cookie! Reviews and/or flames are appreciated.**

**The "Immortal" Sir NZ**


	9. Step Nine

**Sir NZ: So, I'm sorry you had to wait this long for a new chapter, really, life just kinda got in the way with school, sports and getting more of a life than I had before. Hope this chapter makes up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I own James and Rachel. Nothing else. Nada.**

**How to Rebuild a Galaxy**

**Step Nine**

**Analyze a New Threat**

All was quiet on the _Spirit of Fire_ as it glided through space towards Earth, its mission completed with Master Chief recovered. Snake and MC were getting a long overdue rest, but both were in a relatively uneasy sleep, unable to get over their training that required one to be a light sleeper.

Two marines were walking toward the medical bay for some headache pills after a hard night of partying, complete with major headache. They lazily pushed the med bay door open, and began to walk towards the medicine cabinet.

"What the-? Get it off!" shouted the first marine as a small yellow being attached itself to his face. He began to try and swat it off with his fists, but it was too late as the creature tapped into his nervous system. As he fell down to the ground in pain, the second marine started to panic, but froze because he still had trouble thinking straight. He turned to the left and a yellow, humanoid creature slashed him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He quickly looked around, his headache still bothering him, but less with the adrenaline rushing through him. He scanned the room and there were yellow, vaguely humanoid creatures with many other looking yellow beings coming at him from all directions.

With only a split second to spare, he realized one thing. He was going to die. But not quietly. Whatever these things wanted, they probably didn't want the rest of the ship's crew to know about it until it was too late. He grabbed at his belt and felt for a round object that he always had on him: a fragmentation grenade. With the window of opportunity closing in on him, he had to act fast. He pulled the pin off the grenade and remembered his college days as a pitcher. Find your target, start the delivery, then fire a strike.

His target, a red button on the other side of the room. His delivery, very odd since he was throwing from the floor. And fire a strike he did, hitting the button head on as the grenade exploded.

_And another strikeout for Andy Foshevsky. This kid's really on fire today, he may go to the big leagues someday._ He wished he could have accomplished the dream he had since he was a little kid, going to the National Baseball Association of Russia and pitching until he retired with millions of Ameros to his name, with a beautiful wife and healthy, successful kids. But he would never see that dream come true. He would die now, surrounded by unknown aliens who would mutilate his corpse, while never becoming rich, or marrying, or having kids.

_I saved a couple lives today, I guess that isn't so bad._ Those were his final thoughts as a smaller one attached to his face and brought his life to a painful end. But after he died, the sound the strange beings most definitely didn't want to hear came on: the shrieking siren of the ship's emergency alarm.

"Show me your…"

"BRIGHT LIGHTS"

"CITY LIGHTS"

"I'm in love with a Yankee Rose!"

The Arbiter tried to cover the ear holes in his helmet to block out the noise of every grunt in the command center singing some infernal music from Earth. The Arbiter liked ceremonial music that was played during important events, and in general, calmer music than what was playing right now. This quickly got on his nerves after a couple minutes, but he wanted to keep morale up over this long journey, so he agreed to let the crew listen to something they agreed upon, this station being their choice. Luckily for him, he saved by the bell… or the electronic bell chimes on his radar scanner.

He quickly glanced at the radar screen, which displayed a large blinking object on the screen in their way. "Visual confirmation?" said the Arbiter to display one of the camera's images of the object. The Arbiter cracked a smile as he saw what was on the screen.

"Shut off the music, and power up all weapons' systems!" Roared the Arbiter as his chair rose to accommodate his view of the room, and the crew's view of him.

New York, the capital city of the United States of North America was one of the greatest cities on the planet Earth. It was like a Mecca for the western world, as thousands of tourists from around the world came to see New Yankee Stadium, Wall Street and the League of Nations. It was a city where miracles happened. After the Lylatians reduced Washington D.C. to a smoldering wreck, independence day –style, it was in New York where the resistance met and formulated the plan that eventually turned the tide of the war. It was also in New York where a meeting was called together to go over what had exactly happened that fateful day when a blast so strong tore through space that the Leaning Tower of Pisa finally fell over.

Many of the important members of the world were there, the president of the United States, the Prime Minister of the European Union and the Dictator of Russia to name a few notables. The League of Nations itself was the successor to the United Nations, which broke apart after World War III broke out, and is a very important forum for the international community. On this day, however, many different leaders of the intergalactic community met in the gigantic white meeting hall appropriately named Woodrow Wilson hall, for the political giant who came up with the original idea (and name) for the League of Nations back in 1918.

The delegates met at precisely 10:30 AM to discuss the matter at hand. The President, Franklin Grant rose up in the center podium to start off the meeting, as he was the accepted leader of the congregation, his fellow leaders from Earth eagerly watching from their box. The central platform slowly rotated to give everyone a few of the President's face at some point, and could be manually rotated to face whomever was speaking at the time.

"Friends, comrades, fellow intergalactic leaders, I have very distressing news to share with you today" he began, in his booming voice that won him the Presidency in the first place. "As I'm sure you are all aware, a week ago there were two planets in the middle rim, both called Ivalice. They were connected by some sort of odd magic, not fully understood by our scientists and intellectuals, and one of them disappeared. We shall refer to this planet as fantasy Ivalice. Now, the sister planet, Ivalice, hosted the third round of the Super Smash Brothers tournament a few days prior to today. All was going well, until an "accident" between two abnormally strong hopefuls appeared to create some sort of supernova explosion that was able to cut through atmospheres and hit other planets, some severely, some not. Ivalice is gone, Hyrule took a great hit from the blast, communications with the Mushroom Kingdom have been cut off, and from a few survivor's testimonies, the group of guardians that put on the tournament in the first place, the Super Smash Brothers, are in disarray"

The President stopped to give a chance for anybody to comment as he gazed over the crowd. A frown came over his face as he saw Peter Bolshevik, dictator of Russia, was smoking a huge Russian cigar. The President himself had instituted the "no smoking" rule in the meeting chamber. He knew that Russia didn't exactly like the U.S. after it stole back Alaska after an attempted Russian coup.

"So what? What's the problem?" shouted the delegate from Theyron (Fire Emblem world).

"Yeah, we're just a bunch of peace-loving planets, not governments ripe for research funds!" said the Kanto delegate.

"The King does not approve of such misappropriation of his time!" shouted a tiny waddle doo.

The continued for quite some time, as Wolf, ROB, Pit and Olimar stayed quiet in the SSB box. Each was happy to be alive, as they were found among the wreck of their escape ship that landed in the Pacific Ocean. After a while of bickering between the other candidates, the president finally used the loudspeaker to his advantage.

"Be quiet!" roared the voice of the loudspeaker as the president put the microphone down. He began to speak normally.

"Listen to me, something is wrong here, and I would at least like to ask for your help in reassembling the intergalactic team of warriors known as the Smash Brothers. Now, I know that you're all thinking 'what has Earth done to set such an example?' Well, Earth has sent one of the current members to go find a missing honorary member of the SB. Agent codenamed Solid Snake is currently on board the _Spirit of Fire_ retrieving Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 from an uninhabited planet in the middle rim"

It was at that moment, that the caller waiting button started flashing on the President's control panel. The President recognized the ID number and answered it.

"And here is the _Spirit of Fire_ communications center now, here to tell us that the mission was a success and that they are on their way home" announced the President, confident in his Marines.

Applause was heard from many different points in the hall as the president pressed the answer button. It was not was they expected.

"Mayday mayday, this is the UNSC frigate _Spirit of Fire,_ and this is a red alert! Mission Spartan retrieval was a success, although something appears to have followed him on! The ship is in chaos as there is a battle onboard between these yellow… beings and our marines. Captain Cutter is insisting on landing on Earth as planned, although our engines are severely damaged! We plan to land in the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles off New York harbor, send the word to send rescue boats for whatever remains of our crew." The audio message cut out.

The President made a few mumbles into a private communications device calling for rescue boats to be outfitted for this operation. He turned his attention back to the other delegates.

"Alright, well the important thing is that both Snake and Master Chief get back safely. Now, whose support do we have?" asked the President, expecting SOMEBODY to join Earth in its cause, but all he got was a couple mumbling and discussions between delegations. Finally, the Pop Star delegate stood up.

"It has been determined that the King is cautious toward such hasty action towards an unknown presence" announced the shortest delegate to the President.

"Same here" said a small Eskimo from the frigid ice planet of the Ice Climbers.

Wolf had had enough of this stupidity of these politicians, he got up and began yelling at the other delegates.

"Look, we almost died because of this magic mumbo jumbo and now my comrades are in danger. You will join us, or so help me, I think I speak for the whole Lylat system when I say that the Lylatians will never come to your aid" Wolf spoke, leaning forward and shaking his fist at them.

"But there is no rush, we don't even know what we're dealing with here" quickly countered the Fire Emblem delegate.

Before Wolf could reply, a shrill alarm went off as red lights went off around the League of Nations building. The message that came over the intercom was hoarse and crackly, and at some points unintelligible.

"They're bac… Extremely large fleet sighted at sector M. Hal… o… station … fallen. Prepare for them. The Co… is coming fast" the message was replaced as a large explosion sounded over the speakers, and then static.

"No problems, that's right, the galaxy is fine the way it is, no random space stations blowing up or anything" said Wolf sarcastically as he got a glare from King Dedede, who was down in the Pop Star box, since he was actually King of Dreamland. D3 (as I shall call him) was quite lazy, and really didn't want to deal with a problem like this, and Wolf wasn't exactly helping his cause.

The President reestablished control over the meeting "do we have any visuals from the station's camera?" He asked the A.I. of the building, who was always listening.

The A.I. then responded in a clear, cool voice "The pictures are mostly that of wreckage or the cameras were too damaged to take a clear picture" it paused "but wait, we do have this picture".

A screen came down in the North end of the room, and displayed a purple looking craft, with vapor trails coming out of two wings angled below the ship.

"There is your problem. The Covenant is coming" announced Wolf. The delegates began clamoring to sign defense treaties with each other.

Snake and Master Chief both bolted awake and grabbed weapons once they heard the shrill alarm going off in the hallway. The grabbed a marine running by them in panic and asked what was going on.

"I wish I could say sirs, but there is a conflict spreading throughout the ship. The alarm was triggered in the medical bay, and all around the ship, guards are reporting foreign beings are engaging them in conflict. They've reached the communications array, but we are holding valiantly. From what the others say, the guards around the engine room are running short, and I am being sent to perhaps buy more time" the tired-looking marine quickly explained between breaths.

Both Chief and Snake looked at each other, their faces turning white at the thought of what would happen if they reached the engine room. They let go of the poor marine and sprinted off in the direction of the engine room, Snake following Chief's lead. They both began loading guns on the way there, Chief's SMG and Snake's dual pistols. By the time they reached the central hallway, they saw a grim sight, as many marines were on the ground as casualties, with the still standing marines desperately fighting for their lives.

"The Flood" Chief remarked as he quickly jumped into the fight. Each ducking behind cover, Chief had no trouble spraying covering fire for the other marines while Snake was getting headshots on the aliens like he was getting paid for everyone he made. With them there, the marines were able to defeat the attacking aliens with little extra casualties.

"Who's in charge here?" demanded Chief in a stern voice.

"Me sir!" the marine saluted. "Colonel Buell, 43rd squad sir!"

"What is your mission?"

"We were sent to relieve defending forces at the engine room sir!" The marine was still in salutation posture.

"Alright, you marines, with me! We're going to the engine room! Address me as Chief, or Sierra-117 if you prefer. This is my associate and close comrade, Snake! His word carries as much weight as mine does! Marines out!" yelled Chief as he pointed down the hallway. Snake secretly beamed with joy as he heard Chief call him a "close comrade", Snake never really had any friends, and he thought that this space marine was a perfect place to start. And where is there a better place for two guys to bond than in the fires of battle?

The ragtag group, with two of the galaxy's most renowned heroes at its head, moved toward the engine room with startling speed. After five minutes of near-sprinting, they reached a mass of aliens on the flank of the assault on the engine room.

"Blow 'em to bits!" yelled Snake as he grabbed an RPG from a nearby corpse. The soldiers began to fire and kill plenty of them, but there were just too many, they couldn't get to soldiers under siege at any time close in the future.

"Chief this isn't working! There's no way we can get to them at this rate!" shouted Snake over the gun fire.

"Right, guess we'll just have to bust our way through" said Chief as he charged into the group of hostile aliens. Snake looked at him in disbelief and awe, until he snapped out of it.

"Either come with us, or give us some covering fire" he ordered the troops as he sprinted to join up with Master Chief.

Luckily, they were both adept in hand-to-hand combat, so they were actually able to hold their own while making their way through the large crowd of rather unintelligent aliens. They got to the front of the pack just as the last marine guard fell. Both thinking the same thing, they rolled into the engine room and Chief reached out to his right to bash in the door closing button, which guillotined an alien as it fell.

"Alright, we're in the engine room, what now?" asked Snake to Chief.

"I honestly don't know, but we have to stop the aliens from destroying the rest of the ship"

They both looked at the engine core, and they both thought of how the ship would probably blow up into two pieces if it blew up. They looked at each other and had the same idea, although with different opinions about it.

"No, we **cannot** blow up the engine core!" said Chief

"Chief, we have to! If we don't, the entire ship is doomed! We can't fight them all off!" replied Snake.

Chief grudgingly accepted this as fact and pulled out a timed charge.

"I'm giving us five minutes to get to the other side of the ship before this thing blows up like Chinese New Year! On the count of three, open the door and kick some alien ass until we get through them, and then just run for the hills! Got it?" asked Chief as he cocked his arm back, ready to throw the device.

Snake nodded and on Chief's count, hit the "open" button, right above the bashed-in "closed" button. The duo came out guns blazing as they took down countless enemies in succession and once they ran out of ammo, punched, kicked and slide tackled (Snake: "Played for an English soccer team bitches!") their way through the mob of parasites. After punching aside the last alien their way, they wasted no time getting out of there as fast as they could run.

And they made it all the way there no problem. HA! NO WAY!

The aliens gave chase to the two escaping figures, as fast as their borrowed limbs could carry them, which was actually respectably fast, but no match for their prey. However, that wasn't to say they stopped chasing them. As soon as they crossed the threshold for the main hallway, the ship rumbled as if in San Francisco during an earthquake. After the quake stopped, the duo made their way to central command. As soon as the doors opened…

"You idiots! What did you do?" Cutter was already in their face, red as a beat. Snake found it hard to keep up eye contact with the commander, but Chief found it easier due to his visor obscuring Cutter's vision of his face.

"Sir…" Chief began "We saved the ship's crew. There were too many of them to hold off on our own, so blew up the engine core and snapped the ship in half, isolating ourselves from the alien threat"

Cutter didn't appear pleased in the slightest. "Blew up the engine core did you? That's ALL you did? Do you know how much that will cost in taxpayer dollars? Do you?" he yelled at them, fully expecting a response.

"Less than the price of the hundreds of lives we saved today" replied Snake, who got a glare in return. "Sir" he finished while looking straight ahead again.

"I don't want you two pulling anything like this ever again" His voice was cold and commanding. "Do I make myself clear?" He appeared to calm down somewhat, but was still fighting the urge to strangle one of them.

"Yes" they said in unison.

"Good. At ease" he left them alone as he walked away.

Both looked out the front window, and saw a familiar sight drifting towards them. Home.

Mario was sleeping peacefully in his bed, turning over every now and then, his sleep restless due to his current situation. Dreams of Peach danced around in his head, reminding his subconscious who wasn't with him right now. He only hoped that she was okay and that they could meet again soon. His thoughts of his beloved were interrupted by a large crash, to which he shot awake. He hastily got out of his bed and ran out the door, forgetting his trademark hat, running out there in his undershirt and his mushroom boxers.

As he ran into the foyer and saw there was no damage done, he went outside to check if something had fallen down outside. Peeking his head outside, he scanned from left to right until he caught a glimpse of what looked like a small fire 100 something feet away.

When Mario came to the smoldering wreck laying on his (?) front lawn, he was puzzled. It looked like whatever it was, it had come from outer space. After circling it a few times, still unable to determine what it was, Mario decided to leave it be until morning. That is, until he heard a small voice come from the wreck.

"Hallo?" he curiously asked, to see if he got a response. Again, he got a small cry in response.

He walked over to what looked like a sheet of metal covering the top, and lifted it out of the way, revealing a dark enclosure below it. Squinting his eyes, he bent down to see if he could see anybody (or thing) through the thick blanket of darkness. At first, he couldn't see anything, but as his eyes adjusted, he could see two red eyes in the darkness, weakly shining among the darkness.

"What's the matter Mario?" a female voice asked from behind him.

Mario quickly turned around, startled by his companion's presence. He quickly turned around and got into fighting stance, just in case of course.

"Is this some kind of space debris?" asked Rachel as she lithely moved towards him in all white sleeping garb.

"I-a think there is someone in there. Maybe an alien perhaps? I saw-a two red eyes" said Mario as he relaxed.

"Could you maybe light a fireball in your hand, so we shed some light on whatever it is?" asked Rachel as she gestured towards the dark hole. _Why didn't I think of that before?_ He lit a small fireball in his hand and lit the small enclosure up. Both Mario and Rachel poked their heads in and surveyed what had crashed so near their home. They were both startled when they saw a familiar figure laying there, on the edge of consciousness. The blue figure slowly turned her head towards them, her red eyes struggling to stay open.

"Lucario?" Said Rachel before Mario could open his mouth. She jumped into the pile of debris, followed by Mario. He glanced around and recognized it as the engine room of their escape pod, still largely intact despite hurdling through thousands of miles of desolate space and crashing through the Mushroom Kingdom atmosphere and into the Castle grounds. He went to Lucario's other side, the one that Rachel wasn't on, and picked him up with Rachel.

"Let's get you-a some medical attention" said Mario as they carried him directly under their point of entry.

The only problem being that Lucario isn't exactly light. Recall that Lucario is a Fighting/Steel type pokemon. The Fighting part isn't really a problem in this case, but the Steel is. As you very well know, steel is very heavy, and Lucario is about twice as massive as your mom's laundry machine, and therefore, twice as heavy. Now if we had DK and Ganon out here, they could probably toss him from here through the front door if they wanted to, but they weren't here. Ganon was having dreams of those curvy desert warriors that inhabited his native tribe, and DK was having dreams about those curvy yellow cuties he liked to eat so much. But seeing as how they weren't here right now, Lucario being part steel was quite a large problem.

"Mario…"

"Yes Rachel?"

"How are we going to get her out of here?"

"Ya know, I'm not really sure"

They laid Lucario on the ground gently, and began to think intensely on how they would accomplish this. They tried leaning against a wall, lying down on the ground, even hanging upside down to think of a way to get Lucario straight up eight feet. None of it worked, and they had come to an impasse on the subject. That is, until the "weakling" came to their rescue.

"Mario, is that you lighting that fire?" asked a small and tired sounding voice from outside the crash.

"Ness, is that-a you? Could you possibly lift Lucario out of here with your telekinesis?" Mario gestured upwards as he said the last part.

"I don't think I can lift her from that level, maybe if you throw her up, I can catch her and bring her up the rest of the way" Ness pulled up his sleeves in preparation.

"Alright, sounds good Ness, lets pick him up Mario" said Rachel, putting her hands under Lucario's back.

"On the count of Three! One, Two, Three!" On three, Lucario was about 6 feet off the ground, propelled by the combined strength of Mario and Rachel. They looked up to see Ness struggling to get Lucario up all the way. They quickly climbed out and grabbed Lucario by the feet, helping to get her on solid ground again before Ness dropped her.

"Alright, let's bring her to a spare bed and get her whatever she needs. Ness, can you communicate with her telepathically?" asked Mario, probably already knowing the answer.

"Yes I can, just gimme a second. She says she hasn't had food or water since the ship blew up so… one, two, carry the four, divide by the square root of negative one, times the natural log of e…" rambled Ness, trying to do the math on his fingers. Rachel and Mario looked at each other, confused at the math operations he was doing to calculate the days without food, and more importantly, how was he doing them on his fingers. "26 days! 26 days without food or water, let's go get her inside quick!" Ness quickly picked her up telepathically and began to rush towards the castle, his fatigue from before apparently forgotten.

As soon as they got inside, Ness started frantically opening up the cupboards and throwing random pieces of whatever they have in their food supply over his head, landing near Lucario.

"That should be enough! Now for some water! Falco, go get me some water!" Ness pointed to a spot behind him and to the right.

"Hey, how'd you know I was there? Huh? Oh never mind, I'll go get a glass of water" said Falco as he came out from behind a corner and went to grab some water from their large jug.

It was not long before Samus and Ganondorf came out of their rooms to find out what the commotion was. Ganondorf appeared to not really care, but Samus was deeply concerned.

_How did you survive this long Lucario? Well, I guess living alone, sometimes without food or water for days at a time, trains you for this kind of stuff…_

The two Hylians led the way as Marth followed closely behind them in the Library. Marth was curiously looking around the giant room, absorbing all that the torch would illuminate.

From what Marth could see, it was at least four stories high, with bookshelves going up beyond the range of the light that the torch illuminated. The floor had an old-looking red colored rug spread across its entire expanse. The walls had more bookshelves on them, but there were periodic breaks in the walls of books to fit amazingly detailed Hylian tapestries between the bookcases.

"How long is this library? We've been walking for at least 20 minutes now" asked Link, seemingly to Zelda.

Zelda tilted her head down in quiet annoyance at not having a straight answer "Well Link, this is the Library of Time, I would think that it must have several million books in it, ancient knowledge that hasn't been read in ages"

The ensuing silence from Link probably meant that he accepted the answer, so Zelda didn't bother elaborating, but Marth began to wonder why exactly they were walking deeper into this unfamiliar library in the first place.

After a while, the group reached another large door, not so unlike the last one. It was an extremely large door that looked to be at least 500 years old, except unlike the completely brown one that was the entrance to the library, this one was colored blue and yellow, blue on the indentations, and white everywhere else. However it had an extremely simple carving on it. The Triforce symbol was outlined about midway up the 15 foot tall door, sending chills down both Zelda's and Link's spine, although Marth was rather unimpressed.

"Your ancients were quite uninteresting in their drawings, back in my land, _every square inch_ of a door like this would be brightly colored and had many grooves and scenes of old carved into it, unlike this… this… geometric carving of triangles" Marth said quite like an art critique.

Both Zelda and Link became visibly annoyed, as Link reached down to his belt to grab his sword, but Zelda, sensing what he might do, held his hand to restrain him. Even though it wasn't in a romantic way, Link still allowed a small blush to creep onto his face, killing his intense anger for the blue-haired royal for the moment.

"Marth, you have to understand that these "triangles" are religious symbols that mean a lot to both Link and me. Do not make the mistake of insulting them ever again, because next time I'll let Link do what he wants with you" Zelda's tone was slightly above that of murderous intent to the prince, and Marth got the message to probably keep his inner art critic quiet while he was in Hyrule.

Link and Zelda both turned back to the door, contemplating whether to open it or not. Apparently they had the same idea, because both Zelda and Link grabbed the handles, Zelda's hands on Link's, and both recoiled faster than you can say "Navi".

"Link" said Zelda as she held out her arms towards the door while slightly bowing. Link did as she motioned and looked down the long dark hallway. The wooden walls and rug underneath turned to a stone pathway as Zelda took a few tentative steps toward the foreboding hallway. The small hairs on her arms stood on end as a chill breeze blew slowly out of the darkness.

Marth came from behind her "I'll led the way princess, just in case we run into trouble" the prince confidently walked past her into the dark passageway. She and Link both looked at each other, exchanged a worried look and began to follow the prince down the hallway.

Marth really wasn't as confident as his posture and disposition would suggest, but he had to look good in front of the princess didn't he? So he kept walking forward and slightly downward it felt like. He could feel the farther they went, the colder it got too. He also began to notice that the walls got smoother as they went along, appearing to almost be man-made.

Finally a light at the end of the tunnel (pun definitely intended) appeared and the trio stepped into a large circular room. The architecture of the room definitely looked ancient, almost completely made of stone. There were two levels to the room, the upper level was the outside circle which the trio was standing on, and the lower level was the inner circle. There was a beam of dull light shining down from the hole in the ceiling down to the center of the inner circle. Upon closer inspection, the inner circle had a painting of the Triforce on the floor, which both Zelda and Link noticed. Marth noticed the abundance of statues with decorative armor that littered the outside ring of the lower level and the two that blocked their way with two crossed spears. Link stepped forward and stood in front of the two spears that blocked his way. To his surprise, the statues brought the spears out of his way, clearing his path. Link turned his head around to get a look at Zelda and Marth.

Zelda nodded up and down, expressing her approval. Marth gave him a skeptical look, and didn't really say no, so Link turned forward again, took a deep breath and walked between the two statues. To his horror, he heard a creaking noise as she quickly turned around wide-eyed to see the two spears crossed again. He looked past the spears at Marth, who looked just as surprised as he was, and Zelda was so tense she didn't have a visible reaction.

Link slowly turned around and walked towards the light. It was right now that he wondered what possessed him to go walk up to the spears in the first place. As he got off the small ramp leading down to the center floor, he saw the other statues Marth noticed earlier. He counted six statues that looked oddly familiar with their black and gold armor, he just couldn't remember from where.

He walked up to the light and looked around. No, he wasn't transported to a different world, time or anything like that. Simply nothing happened. Looked at the floor beneath him and noticed a small carving. He bent down to get a closer look at it and saw a small picture of a sword. He stood back up and slowly pulled out the Master Sword from its sheath. He held it underneath the light, to see if anything would happen. After a couple of seconds, he started to put it away when the light began to fade.

The only sounds that could be heard where Link's gasp of surprise and Zelda's small "eek" as the light went out entirely. The light in the room was the small (by now) torch that Zelda held.

Two things happened at once that nobody expected. The Master Sword began glowing the same dull white that the light had been glowing, Link looking in awe at his sword. The light now illuminated the statues that stood in a wide circle around the inner level and a small creak escaped one of the statues. Then another. And another. Soon, the statues were slowing moving, as if breaking off centuries old chains that restricted movement.

The statues raised various weapons as their red eyes began to glow a menacing red glow. In unison, they began walking forward. Illuminated by only the glow of the Master Sword, their armor glistened as Link reached his right hand behind his back slowly to grab his… oh shit. He left his shield in his room. The battle began quickly as Link chose to rush towards one with a giant sword. The statue (?) raised sword as it sent the sheet of metal crashing towards Link with tremendous force. Link quickly rolled around to its side as the sword hit the ground with a small quake. He got up and saw straps on its back that held the armor together. He then knew what his enemies were. They were darknuts, knights that he had faced throughout his many adventures. He remembered that he had to get their armor off before anything, so he swung vertically at the bent-down darknut's back and cut the straps in two. The surprised darknut, free from the extra weight, lurched upwards from trying to get the sword out of the ground. Link quickly brought his sword back around for a lethal stab into its chest. It fell on top of its armor with a clank.

He looked up to see five more ready to avenge their fallen comrade, weapons raised and slowly lumbering towards him. Arrows wouldn't help here and his sword was a bit limited in range compared to their long and heavy weapons. An explosion startled the darknuts as one of their helmets flew off into the darkness. A well-placed din's fire from Zelda had exposed the creature's head. Damn, he loved that woman. He quickly whipped out his bow and buried an arrow into its head. The creature fell with a crash and spilled green blood all over the bottom left triangle of the Triforce.

He put his bow away and surveyed the remaining four enemies staggering towards him. He then heard a scream come from Zelda and saw that the other two statues apparently didn't like what Zelda did to their buddy and came alive too. To add to Marth and Zelda's problems these two were about 8 feet tall and held spears as long as Marth was tall.

Zelda quickly backpedaled to get some room between her and the large armored demon. She charged up a Din's fire (ball?) then sent it towards the monster, letting it explode around the torso. The Darknut was knocked back a bit, but to no noticeable avail. She tried it again, letting the fireball explode this time around the head, hoping to knock its helmet off like last time. She underestimated the monster's reach, and as it exploded, it swung the spear out in a wide arc, putting a large gash in her arm. She closed her eyes in pain as she brought her arm close to her body out of reflex.

She opened her eyes to see what looked like the monster recovering from the bright flash of the fireball in its eyes. It turned its head side to side one last time, opened its eyes and brought its attention back to her. The quick use of two spells in a row made her a bit more tired than she would have liked. She quickly brought her good hand to her head and pushed off the beads of sweat that accumulated on her brow. The monster stepped forward and began a relentless barrage of swipes and thrusts that pushed Zelda on the defensive, not giving her much time to recuperate and use another spell.

Finally she saw the mistake that she was looking for, as the monster pulled back for an especially hard thrust. She stepped back, held her breath and did a small jump onto the spear as the darknut thrust it out. Using it like a springboard, she used it to get up the extra few feet, concentrated all her energy into her outstretched toe and discharged it once she felt her toe his flesh. The monster roared as electrical energy surged into its body and throughout its armor. The darknut finally succumbed to the electricity and fell onto its knees, then face first onto the ground, still convulsing from the electric shocks while it got discharged into the ground. Once the monster was still, she looked over at Marth and his own battle with his darknut.

From what she could see, neither had done much damage to the other, although it was clear the monster had Marth on the defensive. From what she could see, Marth had knocked off small bits of its armor, mostly around the shoulders, while the darknut had ripped a small bit of Marth's cape off. Too weak to do much, she picked up her torch, went behind the monster and shoved the still-lit part onto its exposed back.

The startled darknut bent over backwards and clutched at its back, searching for the source of the searing pain. Bending over backwards created the hole, literally, that Marth was looking for. The plates covering the darknut's stomach were stretched just enough for a sword to fit through, exposing small bits of its stomach. Marth quickly stabbed through the beast's stomach and just as quickly as it bent over backwards, it bent over forward clutching its stomach. After quickly avoiding getting hit on the head by the torso after it lurched forward, Marth jumped on the darknut's shoulders, brought his sword up and stabbed down its spine, instantly killing it.

He jumped off the darknut's shoulders before it fell over with a large crash and a dust cloud. Rushing over to Zelda's kneeling figure, he grabbed her injured arm to examine it.

"Zelda, did the monster's spear do this to you?" He looked into her blue eyes, already knowing the answer.

Looking at the ground, she slowly nodded up and down while wiping a teardrop from her eye.

"Aw look" he held her chin up so she would look at him "its gonna be alright" He wiped another tear away with his index finger. At least she stopped looking so said. A harsh clang interrupted their little moment as they were both reminded Link was taking on four of the smaller darknuts by himself and by the looks of it, the battle was not going his way. His swipes were becoming more haggard, and he had had his trademark hat knocked off ducking under an axe swipe.

"Please Marth, you must go help him! I'm too weak right now, could you please go help Link out?" she begged with tears beginning to form in her eyes again. _I would really rather not go help out fairy-boy, but how can you say no to a face like that?_ "Don't worry, I'll get him out of there alive. He then got up and quickly ran down the path the larger darknuts had guarded.

Unsheathing his sword as he ran towards the unsuspecting attackers, he targeted the closest darknut as his first victim. Once within range, the air shimmered as Falchion sliced through the exposed straps of the darknut, dropping all of its armor onto the floor. This darknut quickly recovered however, and turned around to face its attacker. The darknut grabbed its large metallic axe in both hands and began charging towards Marth at startling speed.

Marth tensed and quickly spun out of the way, putting his sword behind his back to block the incoming axe. The two weapons met with a clang, and both fighters held the lock of the weapons for a second. Marth broke the lock to get into a better position and re-analyze the situation. With some fancy footwork and quick sword feints and blows, Marth kept the darknut confused just long enough to stab it through the heart. Marth satisfyingly turned his sword around in the hole for emphasis, then drew his sword out, letting the body fall to ground with a dull thud.

Turning back to Link, he saw that Link had somehow taken down the other three darknuts with no major injuries, and then he turned back to Zelda, who was nursing her hurt arm over by the entrance. Link grabbed his hat, and then walked over to Zelda behind Marth.

"Link, what were you doing, trying to mess with things you have no idea about? Say you had gotten yourself killed out there? What would I have done?" asked Zelda from her knees, tears in her eyes. Link, taken aback by the princess' sudden wave of concern for his well being before her own, took a few seconds to answer.

"Well, I didn't see you try and stop me" he paused "Besides, I didn't get myself killed now did I? Thanks to Marth over here" the last part came out a bit uneasily, as if forced by some otherworldly force. Link turned to Marth and held out his hand.

"Thanks back there" Link said a bit shakily.

"No problem" If Zelda was paying attention, she might have seen that this moment wasn't exactly genuine as both men were still wary of each other, and really just wanted to impress Zelda with their maturity.

"Do you need help walking, princess?" asked Marth as he offered his hand down to Zelda.

"I don't…" she began to get up, then suddenly collapsed back down. "Okay, I might need some help, thank you Marth" Marth helped her up and put her arm around his shoulder and let her use him as a support.

"Let's go back, get some rest"

"That sounds nice right now" Zelda and Marth walked collaboratively up the passage they just came down.

Link was a bit more distracted than they were, he did follow along, but he was much more interested in the new ghostly glow his sword had more than anything.

**Sir NZ: Okay, again I'm really sorry about the huge delay in updating this, it's just that I've had lots of stuff going on and I'm having a bit of writer's block on this story. I'm thinking about maybe starting a new one, we'll see. And now that summer's here, I think you can expect a couple more chapters out of this at least. No promises though. Review and tell me what you thought of this 7650 word monster.**

**The "Immortal" Sir NZ **


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